Cheaters In Love
by newportbabe44
Summary: Ryan's married and has a family, when Marissa comes back, will she she mess everything up, and make Ryan give it all up? Chapter 18 is up. "Taking Our Time"
1. Mess It All Up

**Mess It All Up  
**  
**Summary**- Ryan's married, and with a kid, living the 'perfect' life, when Marissa comes back into town, will he give it all up? 

**Disclaimer**- Josh Schwartz is not mine, so therefore, the OC is not mine.

**A/N**- It's a little thing that popped up in my head, so thoughts kept coming in, and I had enough to make a story. And it's what watching Lifetime does to you people. Hope you enjoy, and please remember to review.

On with the story...

"Morning." Ryan greeted in a sleepy voice as he entered the kitchen.

"Morning Daddy!" Madison, preferably called Maddy, the 6 year old, exclaimed from the table.

Ryan smiled as ruffled her dark curls then went over to Theresa; who was making a sandwich. "Hey, good morning," he said to her. She looked up from her sandwich, and gave hima quick fake smile. "Morning."

Ryan rolled his eyes as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. Maddy noticed this and decided to break the awkward silence in the kitchen. "Who's picking me up from school today?" she asked.

"I will," Theresa volunteered.

"I can't anyways, I have a meeting, new client so..." he trailed off, hoping Theresa would understand.

Theresa nodded, "That's fine, I have a massage, and it isn't until 4 so I can pick you up Maddy, 'kay?" She buttered a bagel now and looked up. "And you can play with Tara next door," she added. Maddy nodded frantically and approvingly.

"So, what time do you think you're gonna be home from your meeting?" Theresa asked Ryan.

"Um...I don't know," Ryan replied with a shrug, "It's a new client, they always require more time, and it's in Newport..." he trailed off once again.

She nodded knowingly, LA; where they lived was far from Newport so he probably wouldn't be home until late.

'They' had decided to move to LA when they were driving by a few years ago. Theresa had seen the perfect house; and with Ryan's yearly income, it was affordable. The paternity tests had proved Ryan's worst fear, the child was his.

Madison Eva Atwood.

Now, here they were, 6 years later.

Ryan had decided to do another 'right' thing and married Theresa when he found out Madison was his. Theresa had wanted the wedding right away, so it happened right away. Their love lives were as dull as a doornail. Neither was very affectionate, and sex basically never happened. Ryan gave her cheek an occasional kiss; when she looked like she wasn't going to kill him and a hug whenever he had to go out of town.

They were a good family as far as parents were concerned, they set good morals and examples, but as husband and wife, not so much.

Theresa had become what she said she would. A woman who was obsessed with shopping, facials, credit cards, etc, a noopsie in one word. Somehow, she had become sucked into the world of glitz and glamour, and wasn't planning on coming out of her dream world anytime soon. She spent the day hanging out with her friends, shopping and spending her husband's money. Ryan was a lawyer/public defender, and made good money, so Theresa had it to spend.

"Bye Daddy!" Maddy screamed as Theresa put on her backpack and handed her the lunchbox. Ryan bent down and gave Maddy's head a kiss and watched her scurry away, her light tan skin glowing in the hallway lights and her dark curls bouncing up and down on her shoulders.

Ryan sighed as he looked around, he was happy, wasn't he? If not more or less for his daughter.

Theresa surprised him with a quick peck on the cheek and patting his shoulder. Usually she refused to be touched, especially by Ryan.

Ryan looked at her, and he started talking. "So I talked to my boss, about those papers, and he could get them for me...but we both need to sign them, and then the div..."

"I'm taking the Mercedes," she said coldly interrupting him and walked away.

Wait. Just a second ago she was giving him a kiss, now she wanted the Mercedes? _Women and their moods,_ he thought. But he knew it wasn't just a mood, it was something more serious.

Divorce.

It had been coming up a lot lately; actually, it had been coming up after the first year of marriage. But Theresa, being the optimist that she was, said they should give it another try; so they did. They both knew it wasn't going to work, but trying never hurt anyone. So they tried.

It didn't work.

If they ever did divorce, they knew it would be hurtful on Madison, and that was one of the reasons they had 'put it off'. Another reason was that Theresa's brother, Arturo, had died from a drug overdose about 3 years ago, so Ryan decided to stick around a little longer, which had turned into now.

The briefcase lay on the spacious counter as Ryan hesitantly picked it up and headed out the door and drove off in _his_ Mercedes.

--

Ryan checked his watch for what seemed like the millionth time during dinner. He looked around the Crab Shack, where he was supposed to be having dinner with his no show client. Being an hour late did not look good for Ryan, he wasn't sure he wanted to defend this guy if he was going to be late all the time. He looked at his watch for the one and one millionth time and after being so tolerate, he decided to leave. He put a $50 on the table, still leaving a tip and started to move out of the booth.

He sat at the edge, waiting for people to pass by; after all it was the busiest hour, and once the coast was clear, he got up and started to put the case papers back in his briefcase.

_Shit!_ He thought as he flipped a fork and it landed on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, people walking rapidly past him. While he was bending down, he felt hands grab his ass; and he immediately lurched forward from the contact.

An "I'm sooo sorry" was heard and he let it go, and a quick scream rang in his ears, but it seemed obviously familiar. At first he didn't think anything of it but turned around anyways and was shocked at the sight in front of him.

"Marissa?!" Ryan stated with widened eyes.

Marissa looked around to see who was calling her name and who knew her there and saw it was the person right in front of her.

Ryan.

"Ryan! Oh my god!" she exclaimed happily. They stood there awkwardly, and finally reached in for what could've been interpreted as a tight, 'friendly' hug. After a few moments, they finally pulled back and examined each other.

"You look great!" Ryan complemented truthfully; and she did look great. She was wearing a black skirt that was longer than what the Marissa he used to know would wear, a simple but beautiful pink, off the shoulder sweater, open toed, black sandals, and her hair was pulled back in to a loose ponytail. Her body filled out nicely now and she seemed more mature, but her face still gave off her childish features.

"Thanks! You look great too! Very..."

"...Professional?" Ryan finished for her, a smug smile on her face.

"You look very professional," she finished. Ryan did look very professional in his suit, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his tie, which hung loose; and his striking blue eyes complementing his sandy blonde hair perfectly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Uh...well, long story."

Ryan looked around the restaurant. "Well, I was just on my way out, I'm here for a client, do you...think...do you wanna get a balboa bar or something?"

Marissa nodded her head, "Sure, sounds good." Ryan packed up the rest of his papers and they started walking down the pier, each with a balboa bar in hand.

"You remember last time this happened?" Marissa asked.

Ryan smiled, "Yeah. So what are you doing back?"

"Well, I actually came down for a surprise visit for my dad, but he's on a trip with Hailey to the Bahamas...again, so I'm staying at a hotel, better than my Mom's," Marissa explained with a laugh.

Ryan laughed lightly. "Yeah, well, if it's any consolation, he and Hailey looked...tan from the last time I saw them...three months ago." Marissa laughed as well and took a bite of her balboa bar.

"Thanks. So, how's your job doing?"

"Good, good." Pause. "Yours?"

"Actually, pretty good. I'm staying a few days extra, for business, another reason I came, I just found out today."

"That's good. So what exactly is it that you do?"

Marissa laughed and tried to explain it to him. "I'm a marketing consultant...for a few stores in New York, I get to travel a lot, but I'm trying to settle down."

"By yourself?" he asked curiously.

Marissa laughed slightly and turned to face him. "There was this guy...we didn't work out though, you know how that is."

Ryan nodded sadly and followed Marissa as she leaned up against the railing. "So how are the Cohen's doing?"

"Good. Summer's gonna be a new addition."

Marissa smiled, "Yeah, I heard, she called me. She's really happy."

Beat.

"Seth too," Ryan added.

"They're meant to be," she added sadly and softly, staring out in the distance. Ryan looked at her out of the corner out of his eye and nodded. "Yeah," he said softly.

Marissa caught his glance and turned slightly to look at him and gave him a sad smile. Ryan smiled back and leaned his head in the tiniest bit. "I'm almost tempted to say 'You know what we haven't done in a while'?" he told her truthfully.

"Than why don't you?" she whispered softly, leaning in, her forehead against his.

**A/N**- Ahaha, a cliffhanger, what will happen next? So in case you didn't get it, they're around 23 years old, Ryan's the father of Madison (Maddy, as I will refer to her from now on, and something will come out next chapter that questions this) and Marissa is back in town, stirring up trouble. This story has a lot of angst, trust me, and usually, I write fluffy romances, so this is a little different. But I can't stay away from the romance, so plenty of that as well. Did you like the way I made Theresa? Very nice touch, I know. Rich. I thought that girl/woman deserved some happiness too, and let's just say she's very happy. Long chapter, just had to get everything out there. If anything confuses you, let me know. Oh, and Seth and Summer are getting married if you didn't get the whole thing with a new Cohen, get it? Summer's going to change her last name. Yeah, well...please review! And just a side note, I am not a fan of Theresa, so the fact that they're married, gives me the jitters. lol. But all will get better in time, kind of.


	2. Think Twice

**Think Twice**

**Disclaimer**- I own everything except the OC, well not really, I own a _few things,_ not _everything,_ but the genius known as Josh Schwartz does not own _everything_ either, but he does own my obsession.

**A/N**- Thanks for all the reviews. Now as much as I love Ryan, (and I do, very much) he does make mistakes (sleeping with Theresa for one), and in this chapter he will make a few more, or so he'll say, it will be considered as a mistake, but you'll find out in the next chapter and this one too if he regrets it or not. And just pretend that the ages match up with Ryan being a lawyer.

On with the story...

Marissa let out a moan as Ryan pushed her against the wall, and than put his body tight against hers; grinding himself against her, hard. She bit her lips to keep herself in control, but it was hard. Very hard, especially since he was kissing her neck with such a built up passion. He kissed down from her neck to her shoulder and up to her jaw while Marissa took off his tie over his head and started to unbutton his shirt buttons.

"Marissa..." Ryan whispered hoarsely in her ear. "Marissa..."

He slipped his hands up her shirt and moved them up until the fabric was lying on the floor. She moaned his name in his ear a few times until he was fully aroused and left her only in her bra and panties.

He took a sharp breath as he examined her body and smiled as she cupped his chin and brought his face against hers. They looked deep in one another's eyes until Ryan blinked and closed the few inch space between their lips. Marissa groaned as she pushed him off, leaving him confused. She seductively walked over to him and grabbed him by his half unbuttoned shirt and pulled him into her, kissing him passionately. She led him over to the bed, her on top, straddling his waist and continuing to unbutton the rest of his shirt buttons.

Ryan worked quickly with his pants and got them off in no time, and continued to kiss Marissa, making her even frustrated with his buttons. Finally, she just ripped off his shirt, a few buttons snapping off, and leaving Ryan just in his wifebeater and boxers. Something caught Marissa's eye as Ryan rolled on top of her, taking his wifebeater off in the process. Ryan didn't notice her stare until he went to kiss her and she didn't kiss back. He followed her stare, and saw what she was looking at.

"Tattoo?" Marissa asked; her eyebrows rose as she examined the army green tattoo that surrounded his forearm and gave off the illusion of his muscles being even bigger...

"Drunk," Ryan explained. "Mistake," he added.

"I like it."

"You do?"

"It's hot."

Ryan smiled and bent down to kiss her.

No one else liked his tattoo.

His excuse for his 'mistake' was that he was drunk, which wasn't exactly untrue, he was, but he knew what he was doing when he got it. So everyone believed him when he did say that it was a mistake. But in reality, he kind of did it to piss everyone off, especially when they were all telling him to be with Theresa because of Madison. And when everyone else hated it, _Marissa _loved it, which made Ryan love her even more.

"This feels so..." he trailed off.

"So good," Marissa finished for him.

"So good," Ryan repeated.

Marissa opened her eyes and pulled back slightly which caused Ryan to pull back as well and look at her. "What?" he asked softly.

"I...I love you," she told him, scared of what he was going to say back.

Ryan grinned slightly and kissed her. "I love...I love you too," he said in the kiss. Marissa felt a huge lift off of her shoulders and smiled as she started kissing down his chest and his finely toned stomach, grabbing his boxers and pulling them down past his ankles. Ryan quickly undressed Marissa as they got under the thin cotton sheets and got on top of her. He kissed every possible inch of her body he could, licking and sucking her breasts, while Marissa pushed him in herself harder, mustering up all the energy and spending it all in a matter of minutes. He looked into her eyes, and the moment began to fade away, as they were both in heaven and made love all long night long.

FLASHBACK

Marissa caught his glance and turned slightly to look at him and gave him a sad smile. Ryan smiled back and leaned his head in the tiniest bit. "I'm almost tempted to say 'You know what we haven't done in a while'?" Ryan told her truthfully.

"Than why don't you?" Marissa whispered softly as she leaned in and rested her forehead against his.

Ryan took a deep breath before leaning his head and than capturing her lips tightly into his own, not letting them go. Their tongues exploded into the others mouth as they kissed hungrily and passionately; when the need for air started to kick in and they finally pulled back, panting. Marissa smiled and closed her eyes and than moved in for another kiss. Ryan was the first to pull away and looked around him; the sky was a solid dark blue and barely any people around. "What time is it?" she asked in between heavy breaths.

He checked his watch, "9:30." He still didn't lift his forehead from hers. Marissa nodded and tried to think of something to say, but kissed back when Ryan leaned in for quick kiss. He loved the feeling of her lips smothering his own as she licked the inside of his mouth.

"Do you wanna come back to my place...hotel room?" she corrected with a small chuckle. Ryan nodded his head and finally took his head off of hers and took a deep breath, trying to get his heartbeat steady.

Marissa noticed this. "Hey, you okay?" she asked.

Ryan smiled and nodded at her. "I think I am," he said sweetly and gripped his hands lightly on her shoulders and brought his lips to hers. Marissa shivered slightly, which Ryan felt. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders as she led the way to the hotel room, grabbing his pinky in her own and walking down the boardwalk together.

END OF FLASHBACK

A soothing, vibrating sound was heard from Ryan's pants; his cell phone. It had been going off every once in a while, but neither Ryan nor Marissa had heard it.

Sunlight came through the horizontal blinds of the Mermaid Inn, casting a slight light on the two figures lying under the comforter who were cuddling under one another's arms.

They were spooning up against each other, their arms and legs intertwined with each other; Ryan's head resting on Marissa's, which was under his chin, and the covers up to their necks. Marissa awoke first, and was surprised to find skin in front of her. She moved back abruptly, her head clocking Ryan's chin and making him wake up as well.

"Hmmm?" he asked in a sleepy voice and rested his head back down.

"Ryan." Marissa whispered.

"Yeah?" he said sweetly and opened his eyes. Marissa.

A smile came on to his face and bend down to give her a kiss. When he finally pulled back, Marissa pushed him back down and sprawled on top of him, resting her head on his chest. They both closed their eyes, remembering the events from last night and savoring each moment they could. Ryan continuously and softly stroked her hair, his hands getting tangled in them as Marissa hugged his body against hers tightly.

"What time is it?" she asked.

Ryan looked at his watch, "6:20."

"I have to go check in on a store at 1," she explained. Ryan nodded his head, "Ok." Than he immediately got up, bringing Marissa up with him. She seemed surprised and pulled the sheets around her as she sat on her knees in his lap, facing Ryan of course.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh no!" Ryan exclaimed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"What's wrong!?" Marissa asked again.

Ryan sighed and took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. Marissa was starting to get frustrated and took his hands and held them in her own. "What is going on?" she firmly asked.

He looked into her eyes, "You don't hate me do you?" he asked softly.

She let out a small laugh, trying to ease up the tension, "No, of course not, I love you." She leaned in to give him a soft kiss.

Ryan pulled back slowly and rested his forehead against hers. "I love you too, but..."

"Do you...regret last night?" she interrupted. He pulled back, but still held her hands in his own, intertwining their fingers together. "I should...but I don't." He truthfully told her.

"Ryan! I want to know what's going on," she said forcefully, "please tell me," she added in a softer tone.

"I...I, I'm married."

Marissa's eyes widened, and her shoulders slumped. "Theresa." She guessed. Ryan nodded his head reluctantly. "And the baby was yours?" He nodded once again and watched as Marissa stared at where his wedding ring was supposed to be, but wasn't.

She took a deep breath and started to get out of bed, "Well, if you won't say anything, than neither will I," she stated and started to rift through the pile of clothes. Ryan seemed confused, "Wait! You don't understand!" he stated as he grabbed her arm. Marissa shrugged it off, and continued to look for her clothes. "What don't I understand? That all you wanted a quick fuck? No, I understand perfectly!" Ryan got up and wrapped the sheet around his lower body and searched for his boxers; he finally found them and put them on and than sat down next to her and watched as Marissa ferociously tried to put on her panties.

"You know I'm not like that," he said softly. Marissa stopped her battle with her clothes, and picked up the sheet that was slipping and looked him in the eye. "Maybe; you weren't, but maybe now you are."

"Marissa, that's not true," he protested.

"Could be, marriage does that to you," she retorted.

"Listen to me." Ryan said sternly. Marissa straightened up, "What? Do you wanna tell me it was just a mistake, 'cuz you can save it if..."

"Marissa!" he interrupted. She cleared her throat and whispered a small "Sorry."

"I wasn't expecting to see you yesterday...or ever again for that matter..."

"...so you wanted to have your fun before I leave?" she asked in a snotty tone. Ryan gave her one of his looks, which shut her up.

"It was unexpected, but that doesn't mean I regret it, I should, but I don't. I should because I have a family, but I don't because...I love you," he said truthfully.

Marissa softened up a little, and felt her eyes water a little bit. "I love you too. But what are you gonna do? I'm not going to to be the person you screw at night, than go back to your family in the morning," she stated.

"I know, and 'course not, it'll all work out."

Marissa was still on the defensive side, "How, marry me, and lead a double life on two different coasts?" Ryan gave her a weird look. "Sorry," she apologized, "Too much TV."

Ryan smiled at her outburst; "I have to go..." he trailed off.

"Where?" Marissa asked.

"I'll be back, I promise," he told her while putting on his pants. She got the idea, and nodded, going over to a nearby suitcase and started rummaging for something to wear. Ryan started to put his shirt, which Marissa had ripped, and inspected it. It looked ripped; and he bent down to pick up some of the buttons that had snapped off and put them in his pocket. When he turned around, Marissa was already dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. It was sort of chilly outside.

"My car is down at the Crab Shack." Ryan explained.

"Mine too."

"You have a car?" he questioned.

"Rental," she explained and than added, "I'll come with you."

Marissa got the keys to the hotel room, and they headed out to the Crab Shack. Ryan looked over at her as they walked on the pier. She was about 5 feet away from him, her hoodie on, and arms crossed. He rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, but continued walking until they reached his car. "This is it," he told her as she examined his black Mercedes. "It's nice."

"Thanks," he offered her a small gracious smile, "where's your car?"

"Over there." Marissa pointed to a navy blue jeep; the only other car besides his and two other ones. Ryan looked around and there was barely anyone around, except what seemed to be about 3 people working behind the counter inside the Crab Shack, and a woman standing behind the Balboa Bar stand. Newport was definitely not a morning community.

They both walked over to the driver's side and Ryan threw his briefcase in the passenger's side and than looked at Marissa who had her arms at her side and looking at him sadly.

"I'll be back, I promise," he told her sincerely. "I know you will, you're always there for me," she said, her tone still sad. She looked up at him and saw sadness in his eyes. She knew this was hard on him; he was always a perfectionist, and tried to be the best.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug, and Ryan gladly returned it, wrapping his arms around her tighter. He bent down a little to give her a kiss on the lips, but she turned away. "Right, sorry," he said sadly, and gave her forehead a kiss. "I love you," he stated.

Marissa looked up at him, and although he was sad, she knew what he had just said was true. She hugged him again, and whispered in his ear, "I know, I love you too, and I'll be waiting for you." She kissed his ear. Ryan gave her a small smile before getting into his car as Marissa did the same and they drove off in opposite directions.

**A/N**- I was going to continue somewhere else, but I think that it was a good place to stop. I'll post again really, really soon. And the point of the flashback was only like one or two lines, to show that Ryan was 'ok' after kissing her and didn't regret it.


	3. Telling Hurts

**Telling Hurts  
**  
**Disclaimer**- I feel witty, oh so witty...no, actually, I don't and I don't own the OC either, or Anger Management for that matter. 

**A/N-** Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you like this chapter. And as much as I love RM, I tired to make Marissa act realistic, as well as Ryan considering the situation.

On with the story...

Ryan parked his car in the spacious driveway, and saw Theresa's car parked there as well. He hoped she was still asleep as he entered the house quietly and saw no one in sight. He decided to go into the living room, but it was being occupied by Theresa who was sitting on the couch sternly, her arms crossed and a look that could kill.

"Home so soon?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah."

"Where were you?"

Ryan looked around uncomfortably and answered as vague as possible. "Out."

"That helps a lot," she hissed.

Ryan scratched the back of his head, bringing up his jacket in the process, showing the rip Marissa had made. Theresa noticed, but didn't say anything about it and watched as Ryan sat down next to her. She looked at him expectantly. "Sit down," he said, pointing to the spot next to him.

Theresa eyed him suspiciously, but sat down anyways and waited for him to speak. "I know we've been talking about this for a while, so I think that's why we should do what we talked about and..."

Theresa got up and started to walk away, but Ryan got up and turned her around. "Stop walking away!" he yelled.

"Don't think you know me!" she yelled back.

"I don't know you...you've changed, and I've changed, so that's why I think we should get a divorce." She was taken aback by his comment and glared daggers at him. "Why now?"

"You know it's not now, I've wanted to do this for a long time, but something's always happens, so I think now is for the better," he stated.

Theresa sniffed, "Is there another woman?"

"Theresa..." Ryan protested.

"Answer me!" she demanded. "Is there?!"

Ryan looked down. Anger built up in her and she slapped him across the face. "You son of a bitch!" she screamed.

Ryan looked her in the eyes, "I know I deserve that."

"Damn right you do! I can't believe this! How long has it been going on?"

"It happened last night, the only night, I swear." He said quietly.

Theresa looked at him, "I shouldn't believe you...but I do," she said truthfully.

"I love you," Ryan said truthfully and he saw the hopeful look on Theresa's face. He took her arm and sat her down next to him, "But not like I should."

"As a friend?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"And I know you do too."

"Get out!" she screamed, her finger pointing towards the door. "Get out!" she demanded again. Ryan sighed deeply and started to walk reluctantly into their bedroom and started packing things in a duffle bag and looked over at Theresa standing in the doorway, her arms still crossed. "I can't believe this," she told him.

Ryan was really starting to get fed up with her comments, and he paced around the room, taking his duffle bag and madly stuffing his belongings in it.

"Do you regret it?" she asked. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks, and looked at her.

"No," he said sternly.

Theresa snorted, "That's what I figured."

"You know what Theresa? You're not exactly that innocent in all this either."

"Why? Because I didn't put out like I used to?"

"No! Because...a relationship is not based on sex, okay, and our friendship was based on sex...years ago, when we were 16 and now..."

"And now what?"

"And now, it's only based on Madison."

"So all these years, they've been a lie, huh?" she asked.

Ryan gave a look that said it all. He zipped up his duffle bag and picked up his briefcase and walked up to Theresa, who wouldn't let him go past her. She finally uncrossed her arms and tried to cup his face and kiss him; but he just turned away, and backed up.

"Don't do this," he pleaded.

"Do what?"

"Don't...do what your doing, because than you're just gonna say something that you regret," he told her.

"You think you know me so well, huh?"

"I used to," he stated lamely.

"That's right, _used_ to! Now, we hate each other..."

"I don't hate you." Ryan protested.

"Than why would you do this? What in your right mind caused you to do this?"

"I told you! It was unexpected!"

"Yeah, right, bet you planned this for weeks!" She spat out.

Ryan was really starting to get angered, "And why would I do that? To ruin our _family_?"

Theresa put her hands on her hips, "I don't know why, but I hope you and that hoochie are happy, she's gonna need it if she wants to be with you," she said in a mocking tone.

He looked her sternly in the eyes, almost scaring her, "Don't talk about her like that, she's not like that, I love her."

Theresa waved her hands in the air. "Well I'm sorry, but how could you possibly love her? The only person you've loved is..." she gasped and felt her eyes well up, catching on to who it was. "You picked her over me?" she asked.

"It's not a matter of picking," he told her.

"She always wins."

"What am I? Some sort of trophy?"

"No, you're a human being," she retorted, "and that's why I love you, that's why Maddy loves you."

Ryan turned around. "Theresa, Maddy is the most important thing on this world to me, understand?"

"Yeah right, that's why you're leaving us."

"I'm not leaving you!" Ryan yelled as he walked into the kitchen.

"Than where are you going?"

"Is that what you think, that the only reason I'm doing this is because you think I want to screw around with Marissa. Is that what you think?"

"Why are you doing this?" Theresa asked, hurt, "I can't be..."

"Alone?" Ryan finished for her.

"You know me Ryan, I want someone in my life, but I would never stoop to your level."

Ryan sat down one of his duffle bags on a barstool and put his hands on the counter, forcing his weight on his knuckles; making them turn white. "Theresa...flashback 8 years, when we were together, you always wanted more, so you got more, you hurt my feelings."

"Way to hold that grudge against me," she said nonchantaly, "so this is how you pay me back; from when we were teenagers."

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, Theresa, that's it, because you cheated on me when were 15, so now, I cheat on you. Makes perfect sense, right?" he said sarcastically. Theresa crossed her arms and looked around the house; which Ryan noticed.

"I'm going to support you and Maddy, don't think about that," he told her as he started to sift through the papers in his briefcase.

"Whatever," she said annoyed. "I'll be back tomorrow," Ryan told her. Theresa looked at him, "Don't worry, I won't change locks so you can get the rest of your stuff." He handed her some papers as she looked at them. She laughed and took the pen violently from his hands and signed it. "Can't believe you, piece of scum," she muttered under her breath as she followed Ryan to Maddy's room.

Ryan bent down over her bed and brushed a few curls from her face. "Mads, I love you, Daddy will be back soon," he whispered.

"Daddy?" she asked sleepily.

"Shh, just go back to sleep...ok." Maddy nodded her head slowly and went back to sleep as Ryan kissed the top of her head.

Theresa watched with admiration as Ryan treated her as she was his own, although that's what he thought.

She felt tears coming out and left the room, walking over to the door, where Ryan hesitantly joined her. "Don't worry, I don't have any sharp objects," she told him.

Ryan moved a little closer to the door and she moved away. "I still can't believe you," she stated as her voice rose.

He nodded his head once and left.

Theresa sobbed and sprawled back on the couch. "But like you said, it's not entirely your fault," she whispered to herself.

--

Marissa heard the door knock and she instantly got upto answerit. There stood Ryan; two duffle bags on each shoulder, a small smile on his face, and the same suit from yesterday, also carrying a small take out box in front of him. She hugged him right away. He returned the hug and moved them inside the hotel room.

She laughed slightly at all the boxes of take out that were already spread on the bed, "Thought you'd be hungry."

"Thanks." He whispered as they shifted uneasily and looked at each awkwardly.

**A/N**-I was going to stop a lot later on, but I felt this was the right to stop. Oh, and Theresa's not exactly innocent in this either, so kind of let you hanging you there. R&R, thanks! And boy I got Ryan to yell a lot. Haa. Kind of uneventful, but next chapter...more truths!


	4. Talking Hurts

**Talking Hurts**

**Disclaimer-** Usual one applies, but I always use a different one, so pick one yourself.

**A/N-** Thanks for all the reviews you guys! They make me so happy! :) I guess I didn't make it clear or something, but Summer and Seth are getting married, sorry if I worded it weird or something, but at least now you know.

**reviewer-** you just have to find out if you were right with your guess, but there's a lot going on.

On with the story...

Ryan kissed and licked up Marissa's legs and up her body until he finally reached her lips. "Ryan..." she moaned.

"Mmm," he replied as he kissed her neck. "This is so wrong...but why does it feel so good?" Ryan continued kissing all over her body, "Because...we've been waiting...so...so long," he told her in between breaths and kisses. "We have," she agreed.

Marissa slipped her hands inside his boxers and took them off instantly. Ryan quickly pulled the covers over both of their bodies and tickled Marissa with his tongue as he playfully licked her ear. "Oh Ryan..."

"I love you so much Marissa," he whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered breathlessly.

He tickled her sides slightly making her squirm and giggle as she rolled on top of him; kissing his finely toned stomach and chest. They continued kissing and panting until Ryan made a wrong move and slipped, ending up on the floor. Marissa laughed and pulled a sheet over her body as she looked at him. "Are you okay?" she asked. Ryan quickly pushed himself up and got under the covers, twisting his wrist. "Did you break it?" "Nah, I think I'll be okay," he said as she leaned on his shoulder. "Ryan?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to hear about your daughter..." Marissa started.

"Maddy?"

"Maddy, that's such a pretty name," she said dreamily.

"Uh, thanks," said Ryan uncomfortably.

Marissa leaned herself on his shoulder, in between his neck, when Ryan put an arm around her shoulder and his fingers found her. He softly massaged them in his own hands. "I mean I love her, she's the most important thing in this world to me, but I feel..."

"As if she'll hate you once she finds out." Marissa finished.

Ryan nodded. "I'm sorry," he continued, "it's not your fault, and I feel even worse for not regretting it."

"You can't help what you feel."

"True," he smiled sweetly at her.

"Would you...would you mind telling me about her?"

"What do you wanna know?"

Marissa shrugged, "I don't know, just basic stuff I guess. I mean...I just, you know," she trailed off, hoping he would get the idea. He nodded and laughed lightly, "There's a lot to tell."

"I've got time," she said with a smile.

--

Marissa nodded and hung up her cell phone and looked over at Ryan, who was still sleeping. "Ryan..." she whispered softly. "Ryan..." she said again as she climbed on his naked back. "Oh Ryan, waaake up..." and started massaging the back of his neck. Ryan still wasn't waking up so she bent down and started kissing his neck. "I have to go," she said suddenly. He immediately rolled over, Marissa tumbling over on to the other side. "What? What are you talking about?"

"My boss called," she said sadly, "and I have to go back to New York...today, my flight's already set."

"When are you coming back?" he asked. She shrugged and saw a sad look on Ryan's face. "I'll be back soon," she said hopefully as she sat in his lap.

"How soon is soon?" he asked as Marissa made herself comfortable in his arms. She shrugged again and added, "I don't know, I told them I want to be here as much as possible."

"I have to look for a place," he told her.

"I'm not leaving until 2."

"Does that mean you want to help me?"

"I think it does," she said in a flirty tone, "and than you can drop me off at the airport."

Ryan nodded, "And than have to go...get the rest of my stuff, Theresa's been calling like crazy, she's real pissed," he explained.

"Well, I'll go get dressed, and than we can leave." "Okay," Ryan confirmed.

They both got out of bed and went over to their respectable corners where their clothes lay; and tried not to look while the other got dressed. "How many days until Seth and Summer's wedding?" Marissa asked. Ryan thought for a minute, "A week, I think," he replied.

"Are we goin..." they asked in unison and laughed awkwardly afterwards.

"Isn't Theresa going to be there?" Marissa asked logically.

"No, she's going to Atlanta, her cousin is going to have another baby, so only me and Maddy RSVP'd," he explained. She nodded and went into the bathroom, inspecting herself. Ryan soon followed, and picked up his toothbrush, as did Marissa. They brushed their teeth for the longest time, looking at each other, and looking down shyly whenever they caught the other's glance.

"Ready to go?" he asked as Marissa picked up her carry on bag and Ryan picked up her suitcase. She nodded and they were off; Marissa linking an arm through his as they beamed at each other.

--

"I'll find it when I can!" Summer shrieked through the phone, recieving some looks from flight attendants and bystanders. "Oooh, I found it!" she exclaimed happily as she picked up the bag. "No, never mind, that's not it, who would have the same bag as me?" she asked frustrated.

"Summer!" a voice was heard through the phone, "We've been talking for an hour, just find the damn bag!" Seth screamed.

"Cohen? Are you having a mood? With me?" she questioned.

Seth calmed down, "No, I'm not, sorry. It's just...you've picked up 4 bags that looked like yours, but they're not!" he told her.

"Yeah, well deal it, you're getting married to me in a week, and if you can't deal with this, than what can you deal with?" she asked, trying to make conversation as more bags passed through the conveyer belt while examining her engagement ring.

Something caused her to look up and she did. She was shocked to see what she did. A man, his arm around a sandy blonde haired, tall girl, his hand in her back jeans pocket, seeming very friendly. "No that's not Ryan," she said, trying to convince herself.

"What? Where's Ryan?" Seth questioned over the phone.

"Huh? Nothing," Summer said. She saw the girl offer the boy a sip of her Starbucks coffee and than playfully pull it back. "Marissa?" she said softly to herself.

"What? Where's Marissa? Are you seeing people again?" Seth joked.

"Shut up!" Summer hissed. "What are..." she trailed off.

"Summer, what in the world are you talking about?"

"I found it!" she lied, "I gotta go, see you at home," and turned off the phone, ignoring the last of Seth's rants. She moved up a little closer and hid behind one of the posts, leaning her head and trying to see the couple.

The girl, waiting in line with the boy, his hand still in her back jeans pocket and her still leaning on him. They were finally at the beginning of the line as the girl and booth lady exchanged papers and the boy and girl moved over to one of the gates, looking at each other sadly. They were facing each other, and Summer got a perfect view, and could see their profiles, and who it was.

Ryan and Marissa.

Ryan's hands on her waist, Marissa gripping his biceps as they leaned into kiss each other. Summer had seen enough and stormed out of the airport. "Miss? Miss? Miss. Roberts! What about your bag?" a ticket lady asked.

"Mail it to me!" she yelled.

"But what..."

"I said mail it!" Summer screamed once again. The lady jumped back and nodded shyly, "Sorry Miss. Roberts," and started walking away.

Over to Ryan and Marissa. "I'll miss you," she said sadly. "I'll miss you too," he responded, leaning his forehead against hers. She sighed sadly and hugged him tightly. "I love you," he said, his voice coming out muffled and choked. "I love you too," she told him with glazed eyes. They both finally pulled back and leaned in for a passionate kiss. Their kiss was interrupted by clearings of throat. They turned to see an old couple, looking at them expectantly. "Sorry," they said simultaneously, moving out of the way. The old couple muttered a few things and walked past them. Ryan and Marissa watched with admiration as the old man held the woman's hand and their luggage.

"Flight 350 to New York now boarding, Fight 350 to New York now boarding," the voice over announced.

"That's me," Marissa told him. Ryan nodded and walked over a little to the gate, continuing to hold on to Marissa. They kissed again, trying to catch a breath, but knew this would be one of the last kisses they could share for at least a week. "Call me when you get there, okay?" he stated. She nodded. "And when you get here," he added. Marissa smiled, "and every night." "That too," he said sweetly, and kissed her forehead. "So you're definitely getting the second apartment?" she questioned.

"Yep, going back tomorrow to sign the lease," he confirmed.

"Okay, well...see you in a week," she whispered.

"See ya than..."

"Good luck with...everything."

Ryan smiled, "Thanks. Have a safe flight." They untangled themselves from each other and a few words and kisses later, Ryan waved as he watched her walk down the terminal, and with one look back, Marissa waved back. She escorted herself inside the plane. He sighed and stuck his hands in his jeans and started to walk back to his car.

--

"Seth! Seth! Seth Cohen!" Summer screamed as she entered their one bedroom apartment. She found him in the kitchen, raiding the fridge. "Must you yell? It's not that big of an apartment," he protested as he walked over to her.

"Whatever," she said as she put her hands on the counter.

"Did you find your bag?" he asked.

"No."

"Summer...I paid 700..."

"I don't care..." she interrupted him, anticipating weather to tell him what she had seen at the airport.

"What do you mean you don't care? That money comes from..."

"Seth!" she yelled. "I saw something," she said slowly.

"Well, that's great Summer, so can the rest of us...see, right now I'm looking at you," he looked at her face, "and you look mad, _and_ I can see that." He added as a last attempt to make a joke.

"I saw Ryan," she started, ignoring his lame attempts at a joke.

"Good for you."

"And Marissa." This got Seth's attention. "At the airport...together, kissing and hugging."

"An airport, that's so cliché..." he started.

"Yeah Cohen, that's the real moral of the story, clichés," she said sarcastically.

Seth shrugged, "Maybe they were just being friendly."

"Sticking their tongues down each other's throats?"

"I don't know, this all is just...it's just too much, I mean how...I don't know," he stumbled.

Summer seemed pissed, so Seth walked over to her and cupped her face in his hands. "Just...maybe we should, I don't know, talk to him later maybe, you can call Marissa, wedding's in a week, see them there, okay?" he suggested. She nodded her head and started to walk away. "Now, about that bag..." Seth trailed off as he followed her into the living room.

"They're mailing it Cohen," she said with a small laugh.

"Yes, but does that include shipping and handling? 'cuz than we have to pay extra," he told her.

--

Ryan quietly entered his 'old' house, hoping no one would be there. But no such luck, Maddy ran up to him, jumping in his arms. "Daddy! You're back!" she exclaimed.

"Hey," he greeted.

"How was your trip?" she asked.

"Who told you I was going on a trip?" he asked, walking into the bedroom and going few a through things. "Mommy."

"Oh."

"Are you going somewhere else?" the little girl asked. Ryan looked into her dark brown eyes, and he felt so distant, "For a while," he replied.

"Why?"

"I have to. Okay?"

"But why?"

"Maddy-who are you talking to-oh," Theresa muttered as she walked into the room. "Ryan," she said coldly.

"Theresa."

Maddy noticed the coldness once again and looked over to Ryan who was packing something in a suitcase. "Mommy? Where is Daddy going?" she asked confused.

"Ryan, I need to talk to you...its important,"Theresa stated.

"Maybe our lawyers can discuss it."

"It's important," she insisted. "Okay," he finally gave in and followed her to the living room couch and sat down. "You're going to have so many questions, but now that we're doing this, I guess I need to tell you."

"Okay, what is it?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

Theresa gulped, "Maddy's not..." Gulp. "She's not yours."

**A/N-** Whee! What a fun cliffhanger right? Yes, so very fun! lol. Well, next update soon, not sure what chapter the wedding will be in, maybe next one, or the one after that. Anything you want to happen, tell me, but I know what's going to happen, or like small details, but I'm open for suggestions. Thanks for all the reviews, keep them up! Oh, and side note: the s/s thing was that Summer lost a bag on her last trip, was there to retrieve it, and saw RM, thats all, just had a reason for her to be there.


	5. The Truth Hurts

**The Truth Hurts  
**  
**Disclaimer-** I guess I haven't mentioned it before, but I don't own Maddy either, but I do know one, and she's a real bitch, but I liked her name, but she shouldn't feel flattered because she just has a nice name, not a nice personality. Oh, yeah, and I don't own the OC either. 

**A/N-** Thanks for all the reviews! They're so great and mean so much to me! Yes, what a nice twist I added, Ryan's obviously not going to react very well, but there's more...

On with the story...

Ryan blinked and replayed Theresa's words in his head over and over again. "What?" he asked.

Maddy came out of her room and screamed "What?!" as well. "Sweetie go back to your room, okay?" Theresa told her. "What's going on?" she asked helplessly and confused.

Ryan was confused as well, "Just do what Mommy told you okay?" he said dismissively. "Daddy," she protested weakly. "Go!" he demanded. She ran into her room and Ryan turned his attention back to Theresa.

"I know what I did was wrong, but you didn't have to say that!" he told her disgustingly.

"Ryan! I'm not! I swear!" she told him.

"I don't believe you!" he yelled, getting up and pacing the room. Theresa got up and put her hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him down, "Don't touch me!" he snapped. She pulled away instantly. "Why are you lying?" he asked in a mimicking tone.

She shook her head, "I'm not, and there's more."

Ryan seemed surprised, "More? What? You cheated on me all these years?" He looked at Theresa, who had her head planted to the ground. "Please tell me you're lying," he said sadly. She finally looked up and shook her head.

"So you give me that load of crap about being with Marissa, and I actually tell you, and NOW, _now_, you tell me!" his voice rising with each word and rubbing his eyes vigorously. "Who is he?" he asked.

"Ryan..."

"Tell me! Who is he?"

"It's not important."

"Than might as well tell me," he snapped.

"My masseuse."

Ryan snorted and continued pacing. "That Latino guy...um, ah, Juan?" he asked disbelievingly. Theresa nodded to confirm it. "Now I can accept the cheating thing," he said dully, "but...what do you mean? Maddy's not mine?"

Theresa started breaking down and collapsed on the couch; Ryan followed. "Theresa, please tell me what you're talking about," Ryan asked, on the verge of tears.

"The doctor, he did a test when Maddy was born, paternity test, and he wanted to do it again, to make sure...and...and," she sobbed, not getting the words out.

"And what!" he screamed.

"And I asked him not to, but just give me the results from the first test, and he said that the test showed it was 99 Eddie's, but just wanted to make sure again."

"But there's still hope," he said.

"One percent Ryan! One percent! And have you seen her? She looks nothing you!" Theresa yelled.

Ryan spaced out for a second; he had never really thought about that, he just always assumed she took after Theresa. He felt the tears pouring out of him, but held them in, forcefully. He wiped them continually until his eyes were red, and those gorgeous pools of blue had turned gray. "I can't believe you," he whispered hoarsely. "How could you do that?"

Theresa sniffed, "The day Maddy was born, I was in the bathroom, and..." she continued sniffing until she saw Ryan's 'shut up' look. "And I heard you and Kirsten talking, and she asked you...if Maddy was yours, would you marry me, and you said...you said...maybe, and than I knew that you would be the way to my perfect life, and the life I've always wanted, and could support me." Fire flamed in Ryan's eyes, "I want another test, I'm making another appointment," he told her as he walked over to the phone and started dialing and inhaling and exhaling deeply.

Maddy came out of her room, scared and confused and walked over to Theresa who was sniffling and wiping tears away. "Mommy? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly as her little fingers tangled in her mother's straight hair. "Nothing sweetie," she told her.

"It's settled," Ryan said coldly as he walked into the living room a few minutes later. "Tomorrow, 12:30," he informed. Theresa nodded as Madison watched them. "What did you mean I'm not Daddy's?" she asked looking in between them. Ryan's eyes darted into hers as he kneeled down and she walked over to him and Ryan hugged her. "You are mine," he said.

"Than why did Mommy say...?"

"Shh..." Ryan told her as he put her finger to her lips, "its okay, it's going to be okay," he convinced her. She nodded and hugged him again. Ryan looked into her eyes; eyes that he thought for the longest time belonged to him, deep brown chocolate eyes.

"Are you getting a d-ivorce?" she asked, looking in between them again.

Ryan spun her around slowly, to face him, and rubbed her arms up and down, "I love you, and your Mommy loves you, okay?" She nodded. "But we don't love each other, so we're only doing what's right, for you," he explained. She shook her head wildly, "No, I want...I want you to be together," she cried. "Maddy, look at me," Ryan ordered as she continued sniffling, "look at me." She finally looked up at him with teary eyes, "Please don't," she croaked.

He swallowed, and continued to rub her arms, trying to make her feel better. "We have to, I'm sorry."

"WHY!?" she screamed at the top of her lungs, breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably in Ryan's arms. He tried to sooth her with his voice, but it wasn't working. "I'm never going to see you," she told him.

"What? No of course not, you'll see me everyday, okay, everyday, whenever you want to in fact," he kept explaining. Snot running out of her nose, and rubbing her face with her hands, "I want you to live here, with me! And Mommy!" Maddy continued.

"I...I can't." She turned her head sideways, not facing either of them and stared at the wall. Ryan grabbed her hands and clasped them in his own and looked at her shirt, 'Princess' written across the top. "Hey," he said trying to make light of the situation, "Who's my little princess?"

Maddy turned around and faced him, looking straight into his eyes, "Not me," she said coldly, snatching her hands from his and running into her room, still crying. Ryan put his hands on his knees and got up, "I'll just get a few things today, I found a place, moving in tomorrow," he explained to Theresa as he walked into a few rooms and stuffing small things into boxes and placing them into his car. After about half an hour; he walked up to Theresa, who was still knocking on Maddy's room. "Maddy!" Ryan yelled, knocking on the door.

"It's no use," Theresa told him.

"C'mon, open the door," they continued yelling. She still didn't. Finally, Ryan jiggled the doorknob until it just opened and they walked in.She was curled up in a little ball in her bed, her deep breaths heard in the room. Ryan walked over to her bed, and kneeled down. She turned around dramatically and continued crying. Finally, he picked her up and held her in his arms, her still fidgeting and screaming, until finally she just gave up and still sobbed, hugging him tightly. "I don't want you to leave," she whispered.

"I know, but it's only right, for all of us, we're still a family," he tried to explain.

"No! A family is a 'pposed to be Mommy, Daddy, and me."

Ryan smiled at her intelligence, but than realized that it most likely wasn't his genes. He started to get emotional, and finally just sat her down on her bed and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow," he told them both and added to Maddy, "I love you," and than left. Maddy continued to cry freely, not looking at Theresa, but at a picture next to her bedside table with her and Ryan.

--

"What are you doing?" Maddy asked.

"It's okay," the doctor assured the little girl as he swabbed the inside of her mouth.

"Why...why did this never happen at other...other doshtor's?" she asked in between swabs.

"Because your special," the doctor said as he poked her nose. She giggled but than looked at her parents and tensed up once again. "I'll be back," he told the three patients in the room. Ryan and Theresa nodded and watched the doctor walk away.

"Um...I still have to go to Atlanta," Theresa said slowly, "my Mom's down there, and..."

"Its fine," Ryan interrupted, "we're going to the wedding anyways. You're staying with me okay Maddy?" he looked at the little girl.

"At our house?" she asked hopefully.

"No, Daddy has...I have another place, you'll like it, and you can bring all your toys, okay?"

She made a 'humph' and crossed her arms and looked at the wall.

--

The doctor came back in, interrupting...nothing but an awkward silence between the three of them. He looked hopeful at first, but after looking at his clipboard, he shook his head. Ryan's heart broke into a million pieces and felt the tears come out once again. "Shirley will assist you with anything you need," the doctor told them, pointing to a small, short woman with blonde streaks. They nodded 'thanks' and Ryan tried to keep from breaking down. He loved this little girl more than life itself, just to find out she wasn't his. He needed someone, he needed Marissa. The 3 of them went out to the parking out, Ryan still trying hard not to cryand wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve. "I'm sorry," Theresa told him.

Ryan turned around, waiting for himself to snap at any second, but he didn't, and instead he just picked up Maddy up and twirled her, hugging her. He pulled her back and examined her. "You're mine, I took care of you, you're mine," he told her while hugging her. She wiped the tears off his face sloppily and he finally set her down. "I'll call you." He opened the door to his car and took off.

--

Sitting in his new apartment or 'bachelor pad' as Marisa called it, Ryan continued to put things up tiredly. Speaking of Marissa, he was starting to get worried about her; she hadn't called once since she left. He already tried her cell phone, but she didn't pick up.

He went over to a box and started sifting through it, only to come across another picture of him and Maddy. Setting it back down in its box, he put his arms around his legs and knees and rested his face on his arm, soaking it with his tears.

After a few moments, the doorbell started ringing off the hook. _Aw, who is that? Hope it's not neighbors, not in the mood,_ he thought. The doorbell continued ringing. Ryan wiped his eyes on his shirt and opened the door, shocked at the sight.

"Marissa?"

It sure was Marissa, still in the same clothes, more tired looking, but still her. "Ryan...I told myself that I wouldn't do this, fall in love all over again, but I can't help it, because I just look at you, and I can't help it, and I know you have a daughter, but..." Her nervous fidgeting was cut off by Ryan's lips.

"Mmm," she said as he pulled away, "and when you kiss me, I still can't help it."

Ryan smiled and took her in, closing the door and hugging her tightly. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too..." Marissa set down her luggage and looked at Ryan, who looked sad. "Me coming here was supposed to make you happy, not sad..." she joked. He obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked seriously.

"She's not mine, Maddy's not mine," he choked out.

"What? But that's impossible, you did a paternity test," Marissa said shocked.

Ryan shook his head violently, "I...we did another one, and she's not mine, she's not mine Marissa!" he cried. He sat on the couch. Marissa followed, wrapping her arms around him and letting his words run freely on her shoulder. He said some things Marissa couldn't understand, but she nodded anyways, trying to comfort him the best way she could.

Continuously, she stroked his hair and kissed his head, until finally, he just fell asleep in her arms, and she fell asleep as well, both leaning against each other on the couch.

**A/N-** Well, there I go again, I thought I was going to end later, but once again, thought this would be a good place to end. So that means the wedding is in the next chapter, as well as Marissa meeting Maddy. OOO! Oh, yeah, I thought I should have some type of sympathy towards Theresa, but I don't. And the way I think, a writer (Josh, you great genius you!) loves all his characters the same, but since I am not Josh, nor do I look like him, I think I do a pretty good job with my characters, even though they only are RM mostly. Hee. But than I read those weird-ish stories, which I'm totally anti against (because well, if you know me, huge RM fan) I get no sympathy and write like there's no tomorrow, and obsessively. Sorry, rambling, so hope you liked it, and please remember to comment.


	6. Secrets Are Hard

**Secrets Are Hard**

**Disclaimer-** If I owned the OC, this would probably be an actual storyline, but it's not, but hey, Josh, if you're looking, I have all the time in the world.

**A/N-** Wow, thanks so much for all the reviews, they really make me update faster, since you guys like it so much. And I know I have a bunch of other stories, but I just have so many ideas with this story, so...

This is probably a few days later, Marissa is obviously staying with Ryan and the thing with Marissa and Maddy is going to be an issue, just to tell you...and of course there's Eddie...and the wedding...

Let's just say this is the day of the wedding, and Theresa will be in Atlanta, and Maddy is going to stay with Ryan...and Marissa.

On with the story...

"Are you ready?!" Ryan asked, his voice bouncing off all the walls in the apartment. Marissa walked out in her dark pink bridesmaid dress, which fit her thin frame snugly. Her honey blonde hair was down and wavy, a matching barrette on the side of her curls.

"Wow!" Ryan whispered.

"You think?" Marissa asked. He walked over to her, "Um, I'm trying hard not to," he joked. She giggled and nudged him playfully.

"You do realize that there's gonna be three other women that are gonna look exactly like me?" she pointed out. Ryan tilted his head, pretending to analyze her last comment. "I guess, but you'll still be the best looking woman there."

"Aside from the bride?" she joked.

"To me, still better looking than the bride," he said sweetly. Marissa laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him softly; the kisses grew more frequent. They continued kissing, wanting it to go a little further, Ryan's hand going farther down her hips.

But instead, Ryan's cell went off. They quickly pulled away, like they were being caught, and he checked the call display. "Theresa," he informed. She nodded knowingly and took his hand, leading him out the door.

--

Theresa entered the ceremony hall, Maddy in tow. She saw Marissa out of the corner of her eye, Ryan not too far away from her. She noticed how they kept glancing at each other sneakily. She rolled her eyes.

Ryan finally saw Theresa and went over to her. He hugged Maddy and took some of her bags. "I'm staying an extra week in Atlanta,"Theresa spoke up bluntly.

Ryan was surprised at first, "Um, okay? Well, our first court date is the first of March, lawyers called, so you'll be back by than," he explained.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go say bye to Summer, Maddy come here sweetie." She hugged Maddy tightly and whispered good byes in her ear and than walked off to Summer's dressing room in tears.

"Hey Mads, do you want to go put your stuff in my car?" Ryan asked. She nodded and they went to Ryan's car and put a duffle bag and her backpack inside the trunk. Marissa came out and saw the two of them. "Hey!" she greeted.

Maddy turned around, "Hi," she said back, confused.

"Maddy? This is my friend, Marissa." He looked down for her reaction. "She's gonna stay with us too, okay?" Ryan introduced them.

"What? Why?"

"Because..." Ryan trailed off.

"Don't you have a house?" she questioned, glaring at Marissa. She knew this woman was one of the reasons her Mom had been crying for the past few days. She knew this woman was the reason of her parents' divorce.

"She does, but it's in New York, so she'll staying with us," Ryan explained, butting in.

"Fine," the dark haired girl snapped.

"So I hear you're the flower girl," Marissa tried to make light of the situation.

"I am," she retorted.

"Come on, the wedding's starting soon," Ryan told them both, grabbing Maddy's hand and touching Marissa's waist lightly, ushering them both in the doors.

--

"Oh! Sum! You look gorgeous!" Marissa exclaimed as Summer looked at herself in the mirror. "Thanks," Summer smiled excitedly.

"Girls! Now!" Kirsten yelled excitedly as she tapped her watch. Marissa wiggled her eyebrows excitedly and gave Summer a hug than left her dressing room and met Ryan halfway. She smiled warmly at him and he returned the gesture. A slow song started playing, and Maddy started walking down the aisle, throwing flowers _at_ people, instead of down the aisle. People thought this was funny and smiled at the little girl.

Finally after 2 or three couples had linked arms and walked down the aisle, it was Ryan and Marissa's turn. They smiled at each other, linked arms, and walked down, following the other couples. People continued to make their oohs-ahhs, until the wedding march started to play and they got up and waited for Summer and her father to come down.

Summer smiled at Seth once she locked eyes with him and Ryan locked eyes with Marissa and they didn't take their gaze off each other until Seth abruptly hugged him.

"I'm married!" Seth yelled at Ryan while hugging him.

"Congrats man." Seth turned around and took Summer's hand and they ran off. Marissa linked an arm through Ryan's again and they walked off, Maddy walking closely behind them.

--

"Do youwanna dance?" Ryan asked Marissa. She smiled brightly and took his hand and followed him to a nearby corner where they started slow dancing. She looked around and observed, "Good wedding." She rested the sides of their heads together.

"It is," he agreed.

"Maddy's beautiful..." she trailed off, thinking it wasn't the best choice of words. "Sorry..."

Ryan smiled weakly at her, "its okay."

"Have you...thought about...maybe telling Eddie?"

"I want to," Ryan sighed,"but Theresa doesn't, I told her she has to; don't want the same thing to happen to Eddie that happened to me."

Marissa nodded knowingly, "I don't think she likes me very much."

"Who? Maddy?" Ryan pulled his head from hers. Marissa nodded. "Of course she does, it'll just take a little while, besides, how can she not love you?" he asked jokingly. Marissa smiled and rested her head on the opposite side of where it was now and kissed his ear lightly. His ears shot up and she kept the tips of her lips on his ear, tickling and fully arousing him.

Maddy watched and searched for Ryan until she saw him in a nearby corner, dancing with Marissa. "Aunt Summer, who is that woman, Marissa?" she asked. Summer and Seth stopped their playful bickering and turned their attention to the little girl. They looked at each other, "Um, she's an old friend of your Dad's. Why sweetie?"

She shrugged, "She's staying with us."

"What?!" they practically screamed. "At your house?" they asked disbelievingly. But they were too late; Maddy was already halfway across the dance floor, racing over to Ryan and Marissa. They just decided to shrug it off and kept poking each other lovingly.

Maddy tugged on Ryan's pants until finally he pulled away from Marissa. He looked down at her and back at Marissa; they looked embarrassed. "Hey," he said softly to her picking her up, so they were all face to face. "I want to dance with my Daddy," she told Marissa in a snotty tone. Marissa looked surprised at the girl's sharp tongue; she looked at Ryan as he gave her a 'sorry' look. 'It's okay', she mouthed as she touched his arm lightly and gave Maddy a small smile. Once Marissa started walking away, Maddy hugged Ryan's neck tightly, as he caught on to her waist, letting her feet dangle against his knees. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling away from the death grip. He held her in a more comfortable position, one arm in the crease of her knees, and the other hand held hers, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, but not so tightly this time; "Yeah," she nodded her head.

"Do you miss Mommy?" he asked.

She nodded her head once again and let a few tears slip. He wiped them away, "Hey, hey, it's okay, we'll have lots of fun," he told her softly.

"With Marissa?"

Ryan looked skeptical, "Yeah. Remember? She _is_ gonna stay with us."

"Are you gonna marry her?"

He was surprised by the question, "Why did you ask that?" he asked instead, ignoring her last comment. She shrugged and hugged him, still dancing.

"I love you Daddy," she said softly.

"I love you too princess," he said as he looked over and saw Marissa, giving her a sad smile.

"Maddy's a real sweet girl," Marissa commented, turning her attention to Seth and Summer. They looked at each other, than at Marissa. "Yeah, she is." Summer raised her eyebrows smugly, "so Coop? How long have you been in town?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Marissa gave her a weird look, "Um, I don't know, why?"

"I thought you said that you were coming in Tuesday," Summer remembered.

"Yeah, I guess," she said with shrugged shoulders.

"So than you didn't come into town earlier?"

"I did," she told them truthfully.

"Than why didn't you come by?"

"Well, it was just for work, I couldn't stay long."

"Where did you stay?"

"Hotel." Marissa continued answering all of Summer's questions, to which she thought were pretty pointless.

Summer and Seth nodded their heads "hmm" and looked back at Marissa. "Okay.You guys, what's with the third degree?" she asked with a small, nervous laugh.

"Just wanna catch up with an old friend, that's all," Seth cut in.

"Okay, well, than stop acting like..."

"Hey guys," Ryan greeted, Maddy still in his arms. He sat down next to Marissa, Maddy in his lap. Marissa mentally sent him a 'thank you' for interrupting their conversation; Ryan noticed her grateful look. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"What gave you the idea that something's going on?"

Ryan sighed at their rambling and looked down at Maddy, whose feet were kicking Marissa's chair unnoticeably. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in a little closer, and Marissa moved her chair a little, but Maddy stretched herself and with the tips of her toes and kept kicking her chair.

Finally, Ryan grabbed her legs and put them over his knees, and kept them there with his hands. Marissa noticed this and moved her chair back; unnoticeably, a little closer than its normal position, and crossed her legs, her feet hovering right above Ryan's.

"Quite the flower girl you have there," Seth emphasized 'you' for some reason with a small laugh. Ryan tensed up and his face fell, she wasn't his, and he didn't want to be reminded. Marissa saw this, and tapped the bottom of her foot on Ryan's shoe a few times, trying to comfort him without it being obvious, or make the situation obvious either. Ryan felt her foot on his and smiled at her warmly, and she gladly returned it.

Maddy started playing with Ryan's hair and face, squeezing his cheeks and ruffling his hair. "You look nice Daddy," she told him with an exaggerated grin. "Doesn't he Marissa?" she added. Marissa looked up and met Ryan's eyes, "He does," she said dreamily.

Summer squealed and clapped her hands excitedly. "First husband and wife dance," Seth explained. Ryan and Marissa nodded their heads knowingly and watched as Seth and Summer danced.

After a few more songs had passed, Ryan asked Marissa to dance again, trying not to make anything obvious of it. Just as they went to their spot, (corner) Maddy followed and demanded to dance with Ryan. Ryan sighed but danced with her anyways. After about 3 dances, they finally sat down; Marissa had an amused look on her face. Maddy had run off and just as Ryan had gotten up for the millionth time to ask Marissa to dance with him, Maddy interrupted. She was dragging a dark, curly haired man by his tie. "Marissa, this is my friend Chip," she introduced.

"Hi Chip," Marissa said. Ryan lent his hand out, "Ryan."

"I'm Chip," he told them once again. Maddy flicked his knee and Chip came back to reality. "Oh, right. Mary...uh, Marissa, do you wanna dance...on the dance floor?" he asked. Obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Marissa looked around and saw Kirsten and Summer looking intently at her and Ryan. Ryan followed her stare and gave a small nod of his head, signaling it was fine. "Sure Chip," she said disappointedly as she followed him onto the dance floor.

"Did you set this up?" Ryan asked Maddy with a small, knowing smile on his face. Maddy sat down, and nodded. "So she can get married, and won't have to live with you anymore."

"How do you know her and Chip are going to get married?" he asked. She shrugged.

"What if I ever married Marissa?" Ryan asked casually. She narrowed her eyes, "Why would you ever marry Marissa?" This time, Ryan shrugged. He looked over his shoulder to see Marissa staring into space and Chip staring at someone's shoes.

"What if I said that Marissa might be in our lives a lot more often now, what would you say?"

"I don't know." She looked over to Marissa and Chip. "I think Chip and Marissa _are_ going to get married," she stated victoriously. Ryan 'hmmed' the idea, not really paying attention to what she was saying and continued to bite his cracker.

--

The room was mostly quiet, people were either slurring, or shouting comments at each other, but it still had peacefulness to it. Maddy was asleep on the stage, where the band was playing. She had done the liberty of introducing every single woman to Ryan and making them dance together and had set Marissa up with every single guy in the room as well.

Ryan was holding half a drunken woman in his arms, Carla, or Caroline, something like that; he couldn't quite remember. She started mumbling a few things and started dozing off, so Ryan dragged her over to a chair where she just totally fell asleep.

"Final dance of the night," the band director announced softly into the microphone.

Ryan quickly walked over to Marissa, and tapped her shoulder lightly. "May I have this dance?"

She looked around and smiled brightly at him, "You may." Shetook his hand in hers and took a spot right in the middle of the dance floor and started moving back and forth, rythmitically to the soft playing music; Ryan's arms wrapped around her waist, Marissa's arms around his neck. After a few minutes, the song ended, and Ryan and Marissa had finished their first dance.

The wedding was pretty much over when Seth and Summer had left, but they just stuck around, hoping for that dance with each other. Ryan held a few bags in his hands as he and Marissa walked over to the stage. "Do you want me to...?" Marissa asked. He nodded gratefully and watched as Marissa picked Madison up carefully and cradled her in her arms, but not waking her up.

They walked past a tipsy Kirsten and Sandy; said their good byes to them. Marissa motioned to them that she had to help Ryan with Maddy, making an excuse to go along with Ryan. Even though they were too drunk to care. No one else knew that Marissa was staying with Ryan except for Maddy and the obvious two.

Marissa put Maddy in the back seat and offered to stay there with her, making sure nothing bad happened. Ryan drove, and checked his rearview mirror once in a while, catching her stroking Madison's hair or holding onto her tightly when they were on bumpy roads.

A little while later, they finally reached Ryan's apartment and walked through the door, Marissa still cradling Maddy in her amrs. But before Marissa could successfully make it,the little girl started to stir in her arms. "Shh..." Marissa cooed.

Maddy rubbed her eyes sleepily, "What? Where are we?" she questioned.

"Home, just go back to sleep okay sweetie?"

"'M'kay," she said still sleepily, "good night" and closed her eyes once again. Marissa breathed a sigh of relief and settled her down in 'her new room, at Ryan's.

He and Marissa had gone shopping the past week, for things around the house which included Maddy's room. She pulled the covers over her; she was still wearing her flower girl dress. Marissa went to the edge of the bed and slowly removed her shoes, and turned on the night light in her room.

She went into Ryan's room as he handed her a few plastic bags and motioned for them to move into the kitchen. "Thanks," he said, referring to Maddy.

"No problem, she doesn't hate me when she's sleeping," Marissa joked.

"She doesn't hate you," Ryan protested softly; and saw Marissa's look; "You'll grow on her. Just like you did on me," he added, walking over to her and placing his hands on her hips.

"Well, if I grew on you, than just about anything is possible," she joked as they leaned in for a kiss but were interrupted by a toilet flushing and a groggy Maddy scratching herself.

"I had to pee," she explained, "what are you doing?"

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"Marissa was just helping me get my tie off," Ryan recovered lamely, pointing to his loose tie, and walking over to the little girl.

"Silly Daddy, I'll do it," she said proudly and took the tie over his head,placing it on a nearby couch.

"Thank you," he said childishly. "Go get your pajamas on, and I'll tuck you in."

"Everything's packed," she countered.

"Right...I'll go find them," Ryan said and walked into her room, looking for her duffle bag.

Maddy hopped on a barstool, and joined Marissa. "Are you and Chip gonna get married?"

Marissa laughed, "No, what gave you that idea?"

"I don't know. What about Will?"

"Who's Will?" Marissa asked.

"That second guy you danced with." Maddy jogged her memory.

"Oh..." she made a thoughtful face, "No, what makes you think I want to marry someone?"

"Because, you're old."

"I'm not old, I'm the same age as your Dad," she said, trying to hold her laughter in.

"And my Daddy's married, and so are Uncle Seth and Aunt Summer," she pointed out.

"True, but I don't think you should marry someone unless you really love them."

"So no Chip?" she asked disappointedly, slumping her shoulders.

"No Chip," Marissa confirmed.

"What about my D..."

"Here ya go." Ryan came back in the room, holding a pair of pink and purple pajamas.

Maddy continued to linger in between the two adults. "I wanna stay up with you guys." She smiled brightly at them.

"We're not gonna stay up," Ryan cut in.

"Oh." She looked suspiciously at Marissa,"Marissa where are you sleeping?" she asked. Get the sleeping arrangements figured out.

"Couch," Marissa replied, almost on cue. Maddy seemed satisfied and walked off in her room. Marissa and Ryan walked in 'their' room, or where they had been sleeping for the past week, but now, Marissa's room was the couch. They quickly undressed into sweats and t-shirts as Maddy waited outside their room, hands on hips.

"I was...uh, uh, getting my stuff," countered Marissa nervously.

"Why do you keep it in there?"

Ryan came out of the room, and swept her off the ground. "Say good night to Marissa, okay?" he ignored the last comment.

"Good night," she told Marissa.

"Good night, nice to meet you Maddy," Marissa said back and watched as they walked into Maddy'sr oom together.

Ryan plopped her down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. "Daddy? Will you read me a story?" she asked.

"It's too late, it's...3 in the morning," he checked his watch, "tomorrow, okay?"

"3? Wow! I stayed up late!" she yelled happily.

"Yes you did, and so you need to go to sleep right away," he tickled her. She burst into giggles until Ryan was finally slapped and he stopped. "Okay, g' night Daddy."

"Night princess." He kissed the top of her head and closed her door slightly.

He went into the living room and saw Marissa watching TV uninterestingly. He took a seat next to her, but before he could do anything else, Maddy came out of the room. "I thought you were sleeping?" she questioned.

Ryan quickly got up, "I am, we are, we were just saying good night," he rambled. Maddy waited there, at her door. "Night Marissa," he said, almost in a bussiness like manner.

"Night Ryan," Marissa smiled.

Ryan walked back into his room, and Maddy stood outside hers until his shut. Feeling satisfied once again, she went into her room as well. Marissa smiled and went into the kitchen, grabbing an ice cream carton.

Ryan finally and slowly unlocked the door to his room and peeked his head out into the living room. He had been in that room for over an hour, not being able to sleep. Maddy had taken bathroom breaks every 10 minutes but had finally stopped about 20 minutes ago so Ryan felt he was safe.

He saw Marissa sitting on the couch, eating ice cream and watching TV. He looked around and finally sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and making her lean on him. "I was wondering when you were going to come out," she said with a small laugh.

"You knew?"

"Oh, I know you so well," she teased. Ryan made an 'oh, really' face before Marissa stuck a spoonful of vanilla ice cream in his mouth. She laughed and he laughed until finally their faces were only inches apart. Ryan took the spoon out of his mouth and set it back down in the ice cream box and kissed Marissa passionately. He slipped his hands under her shirt, on her sides as they started to lean back on the couch, Marissa wrapped her arms around his shoulders and they continually kissed, until...

the sound of a doorknob jiggling was heard and Maddy came out. They pulled back and tried to remain as calm as possible. "What are you guys doing; I thought you were going to sleep?"

"We were," Ryan explained, "but I couldn't sleep, so Marissa was helping me keep busy."

"Me too," Marissa chipped in.

"I can't sleep either!" she announced happily as she wedged herself between them.

"Joy," Ryan said dryly.

"Come on Daddy, it'll be fun!" She took the remote control from Marissa's hands and started flipping through the channels as Ryan and Marissa looked at each other longingly.

**A/N-** Now that was a long chapter! Phew! Maddy's a fun character to write, but we're still not done with the whole Eddie ordeal either, and of course there's the divorce, and no one knows about them, except them and Theresa, so everyone has to find out, which MIGHT happen next chapter. I'm really getting into this story, but I still haven't forgotten my other one's as well, just having a little trouble, or working on like 3 things at one time. Well, hope you liked it, and please review!


	7. Help Us through It All

**Help Us through It All**

**Disclaimer-** Nothing is mine...nothing, so let's get over that fact.

**A/N-** Wow! Thanks so much for all the reviews, they're so great, and thanks for all the suggestions. And I know everyone wants Maddy to like Marissa, but I mean, Marissa is the cause of her parent's divorce, so...and also Eddie, he will come into the picture as well. I was re-reading the last chapter, and I realized that the ending was a little too much, but that was kind of the point, for Maddy to be annoying, but still adorable. Thanks for all the reviews, and please keep them up.

On with the story...

2 days later...

Marissa looked up from her eggs and up at Ryan, who was rubbing his legs together. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine, just been real itchy lately," he explained.

"I've noticed, you and Maddy," she said, looking over at Maddy who was scratching her elbow.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor's?" Marissa suggested.

"No!" Maddy yelled.

"I don't think so," Ryan followed.

"Well," Marissa trailed off as she got up and went over to Ryan, and stood behind him and played with the back of his head, and looked at the red spots forming on his neck. She pushed him forward a little, and lifted his shirt up.

"Marissa..." he said, embarrassed, since Maddy was right there.

"Oh, Ryan relax," she said with a small laugh.

She looked at his muscular back, "You've got the chicken pox."

"What? No I don't," he retorted.

"Yes you do," she said with a grin. Ryan looked so scared. "And Maddy, I think you do too."

"Am I gonna die?" she asked worriedly.

Marissa let out a laugh, "No, you're not going to die. But can you lift up your sleeves for me?"

Maddy obeyed, and lifted up her arm sleeves and leg sleeves, displaying all the red spots.

"What about you?" she asked Marissa.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, I'm immune to it, I had it when I was younger, so I can't get it again," she explained.

"What do I do?"

"Um, well, for now, why don't you just go lie down," she suggested.

"Okay," and scurried away to her room.

"And you..." Marissa said playfully to Ryan.

"Yes..." He grabbed her by the waist and sat her down on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick peck on the lips, but Ryan moved his head forward and leaned in for more.

Maddy had stopped her bathroom breaks in the middle of the night; leaving Ryan and Marissa to have their secret midnight rendezvous. They still had to be quiet, but Maddy was a sound sleeper, so thank goodness so it wasn't that big of a problem.

"Marissa! My spots itch!" Maddy screamed from her room. Marissa quickly got up from Ryan's lap and tousled his hair. "Get some rest," she whispered. "I'll check on you later," she added and went off in Maddy's room as Ryan watched after her admiringly.

--

"Stop scratching!" Maddy told Ryan as she pinched his arm.

"Ow!" he exclaimed in an exaggerating tone; Marissa gave him a playful stern look.

They were all sitting in the living room, Ryan and Maddy still had the chicken pox. Ryan's cell phone started ringing and he walked over to it and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"

Marissa heard bits and pieces on Ryan's side of the conversation. "Yeah, fine, she's right here. Maddy, it's your Mom," he told he as he handed her the phone. Maddy squealed excitedly and took the phone from him and went into her room.

"Are you okay?" Marissa asked.

Ryan sighed, "I don't know."

She walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulder and massaged the nape of his neck. "What happened?"

He took a deep breath before letting out his short conversation with Theresa. "She asked how Maddy was, I said fine, and than I asked her if she knew if Eddie was saying, and she said she still wasn't sure she wanted to tell him...and well, you get the idea." She nodded and continued to stroke his hair and neck, when Maddy came back in and handed the phone to Ryan.

"Mommy wants to talk to you." Ryan nodded and took the phone from her and went into the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Ryan!" Theresa shrilled. "Maddy has the chicken pox!"

"Yeah, I know."

"And you have it too, who's taking care of you?" she asked.

"Marissa."

"Well, Marissa's not a doctor," she scowled.

"I know; we got some ointment and other stuff from the doctors."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't feel there was a need to, we have it all under control."

"You still should've called."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I should've called. Now I want to talk to you about..." he lowered his voice, "Eddie."

"What about him?"

"Are we going to tell him anything, so than I can contact him somehow"?

"We..." Theresa started, "aren't going to tell him anything."

"Why not? Do you want the same thing to happen to him that happened to me?"

"Ryan! What do you expect me to say? Oh, here's this kid you impregnated, take care of it-"

"Theresa!" he hissed. "As far as I'm concerned, Maddy is as much mine as she is Eddie's. I just want him to know, that's all."

"Why?" she whined.

"I don't care if I have your support or not, but we need to stop lying, and _you_ need to stop lying."

"Fine!" she growled. "How is Maddy taking things with you and Marissa?"

"Um..." he hesitated, "she actually still...doesn't know".

Theresa snorted, "Humph! And you're telling me not to lie..."

"Look, we'll tell her when we feel its right, don't you think she has enough to handle with everything."

"Fine."

"I'll try to find Eddie's number, than call him, just tell me when you're coming back...and we'll meet him up with him than."

Her tone, still undeciding, "I don't know."

"Well..." he scoffed, "can you at least give me an estimate?"

"Fine! Let me check my palm pilot." Ryan rolled his eyes. "February 26," she snapped.

"Thank you," he said coldly.

"This..." she sighed deeply, "this is wrong."

"Well, than it's wrong to you, but it feels right...to _me_."

"Whatever."

"Same..." he said and than hung up, pissed.

He started walking back into the living room, seeing Marissa and Maddy watching TV; he sat in between them.

"Are you okay?" Maddy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ryan said absentmindedly. Marissa noticed this, "Maddy, why don't you go sleep for a while, okay".

"Marissa!" she protested.

"Mads, just listen to Marissa, okay?" She looked between the two of them, and obeyed, "Okay."

"Do you need any help?" Marissa asked..

He looked up at her; into her eyes, "I love you.".

She smiled at him, "I love you too," and than wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a hug as Ryan nuzzled his face into her neck.

--

Ryan sighed as he set down the phone and looked up at Marissa. "She's coming in tomorrow," he explained. She nodded hugged him. He pulled back and cupped her face into his hands.

"What?" she asked softly.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For everything..."

"Don't thank me, you've been there for me all those years, and now, I want to be there for you."

"Okay," he said with a smile, "but I still want to thank you."

"You're welcome..." she told him flirtingly and than leaned in for a quick kiss.

They heard the toilet flushing and immediately pulled back. Maddy came out of the bathroom and cheerfully sat down in between them. Her chicken pox spots were slowly going away and she was feeling better. Lucky thing that her school had vacation this week so she didn't have to go.

"Who was that?" she asked Ryan.

"Your Mom, she's coming home tomorrow," he explained. Maddy squealed excitedly and clapped her hands. "But we're going somewhere when she comes," he added.

"Where?"

Ryan looked at Marissa, "Um, an old friend of Mommy and Daddy's."

Maddy replied, "Okay."

"Go get your pajamas on, and than I'll be there to tuck you in," Ryan told her.

She hesitated for a second, biting her nails, and looked at Marissa. "Can Marissa tuck me in?" she asked. They were both surprised, but of course happy. Ryan smiled at Marissa and the expression on her face. "Sure," Marissa answered and they watched her run into her room.

Marissa raised her eyebrows at Ryan and hopped on him. "I told you you'd grow on her," he said with a small laugh.

"Right, big accomplishment," she told him excitedly as she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned herself in until her head was resting in the crook between his neck and shoulder. She rubbed her fingers against his shirt, right where his tattoo was. "I like her," Marissa said.

"I know you do, and she likes you too." He hesitated before adding, "So, when does your flight leave?"

"Tuesday."

"What's today?"

"Saturday."

"Three more days with you," he said dryly.

"I have to finish everything in New York, and I'll be back before you know it, I promise."

"Promise?"

"Promise," she confirmed as she put her lips against his ear lobe and let out a short breath into it. "Well, if you promise," he said jokingly.

"I promise," she said again and bit the tip of his ear, causing arousal to come all over him.

"Marissa! I'm ready!" Madison called out from her room.

"Okay!" Marissa shouted back as she got off of Ryan.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." he told her.

"A cold one?" she asked sarcastically.

Ryan returned her sarcasm with a sarcastic smile, "Yes a cold one."

"Have fun," she said playfully with a flirty wave as she went into Maddy's room.

"Right, have fun," he mumbled as he went into the bathroom.

"Hey," Marissa said as she entered Maddy's room, and found her sprawled on top of the bed, covers resting at the foot of the bed. She sat down on the edge and pulled the covers up to Maddy's legs. "Are you cold?" she asked. She shook her head.

"Who is...Eddie?" she asked Marissa. Marissa froze, "Where did you hear Eddie?"

"I listened when Mommy and Daddy were talking," she explained.

"That's eavesdropping," she told the vibrant little girl and watched her giggle. "That's where we're going tomorrow," she explained after her fit of laughter.

"Oh, why?"

"Because...we haven't seen him in a long time."

She nodded her head and Marissa pulled the covers up even more.

"Do you like my Daddy?"

"Of course I like him, he's one of my best friends"; Marissa told her, waiting for her questions to turn into a point.

"Do you think my pa...?" Madison asked, tears in her eyes, as her body shook from sudden sobs. Marissa did the best thing she could think of, she picked up the little girl and hugged her, trying to comfort her with her voice. After a few moments, she finally composed herself and wiped the tears from her eyes and looked into Marissa's eyes.

"Do you..." she sniffed, "Do you think my Mommy and Daddy will get...togefer again?" she asked.

Marissa shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry sweetie...I don't think so." Maddy started crying again. Marissa tried to think of something to say. "Hey, you know what? We have something in common," she started.

"What?"

"Well, my parents are divorced too."

"Really?"

Marissa nodded her head, "Yep, but I was a little older than you were, but I was sad too when they got divorced."

"Me too," she agreedd, "are they back together?"

"No, they're not, but I'm happy that they're not."

"You are?" she asked surprised. Marissa nodded, "Do you remember what I told you; about marrying someone you love, well, if your Mommy and Daddy don't love each other, than they should find someone that they do love."

"Like a step-mom?"

"Yeah; like a step-mom, or a step-dad. I have a step-mom _and_ a step-dad," Marissa explained.

"You do? What are their names?"

"Richard and Hailey and I like them because I know they make my Mom and Dad happy."

"Well," Maddy crossed her arms, "I don't want them to get married with someone else."

Marissa laughed at her stubbornness, "Not even if they make them happy."

"No, you're only supposed to get married once."

"Well, who said that?"

"Mommy."

"Well, that's not true, you can get married as many times as you want."

"Even a million cajillion trillion times?" she asked excitedly, motioning the numbers with her hands.

Marissa laughed and put her hands down and set her back down in the bed, "Well, not that many times, but you should marry someone if you know them for a long time."

"Mommy said that she knew Daddy since they were tiny," she continued to argue to get her point across.

"Hmm, well..." she tried to find the right words. Maddy looked at her expectantly. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that somehow if you're Mommy and Daddy really love each other, they will end up together." Maddy played with her curls, "I guess."

"You love your Daddy, right? Well, if your Dad loves someone else, than I'm pretty sure that you'll like them too," Marissa tried to reason with a smile.

"I don't think so," she said shaking her head.

"Well, if you don't, than you can come tell me and I'll take care of them, okay?"

She giggled, "Okay."

"Good; so did you go the bathroom?" She nodded her head. "And you had your water?" She nodded once again. "What else?"

"Um," Maddy put a finger on the tip of her chin, trying to express that she was thinking hard. "Well, than Daddy tells me a story."

"Okay, well...no books?'

"Make one up."

"Me? I'm not that good at telling stories, but I'll try. Do you like princesses?"

Maddy nodded her head excitedly. "Okay, well, um..." Marissa tried to think.

"Maybe I can help?" Ryan suggested from the doorway, towel drying his hair.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, how long have you been standing there?" Marissa asked.

"Just enough to hear that you don't know how to tell a good story," he joked.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she playfully slapped his arm.

Maddy giggled before adding, "Daddy's a professional."

Marissa looked over at a blushing Ryan, "At storytelling?" she joked.

"I've gotten pretty good over the years," he said sarcastically.

"The best!" Maddy exclaimed, her hands waving wildly in the air and got up, and jumped up in Ryan's arms. Ryan accepted her embrace and returned it, as Marissa watched admiringly.

"Okay, you try to go to sleep; we have an early day tomorrow."

"Okay," she obeyed as she laid down and Marissa once again pulled the covers over her and leaned her weight on her palm, which she put at the foot of the bed; waiting for Ryan's storytelling to begin. Ryan started with "once upon a time", and Marissa lost herself in his eyes when he looked over at her.

He let his hands creep over to hers, resting his palm right next to hers, and letting his fingers intertwine slowly with hers. Marissa felt this and grinned at him,and he grinned back as he continued to tell the story, with Maddy still sleeping.

--

"What are you doing?" Maddy asked, watching Marissa apply some type of shiny, pink lip gloss. Marissa looked down at her, and kneeled down, giving her the tube. "You want some?" she offered.

"Germs?" Maddy said disgustingly.

"I have another one," Marissa told her and went into Ryan's room. Ryan was putting on a wifebeater and examining himself in the mirror. She went digging inside her make up bag, and pulled out a fresh new tube of lip gloss; and went over to Ryan. "Nervous?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Yeah, I just hope I don't lose it," he confessed.

"It's okay if you do," Ryan gave her one of his glares. "Or maybe not."

"I'm even more nervous about, you know, Maddy's reaction."

"Mmm-hmm," Marissa said knowingly and wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed the side of his head. "It'll all work out...somehow," she said.

"Thanks," he offered as he moved his head and kissed her back.

"What time is Theresa coming?"

"3:00." Marissa looked over at the clock, it was12 right now. She unwrapped her arm from him and went back to Maddy in the bathroom.

--

Ryan put down his cell phone and looked unhappy. "Maddy, your Mom's here!" he called out. Maddy came out, also looking unhappy, and dragging her duffle bag wearily behind her. Tears started coming out of her eyes as Ryan went over to her, wiping her eyes. "You're not coming with me, are you?" she asked sadly. He shook his head, "No, I'm not, but I'll see you later today".

"But you're still not coming home with me! Now!" she bawled. Ryan wrapped his arms around her tiny body and hugged her tightly. "I'll see you again, don't worry, okay." She continued sniffling, but nodded anyways and dragged her duffle bag past Marissa.

"Bye Maddy," Marissa said.

"Bye," Maddy said distantly and opened the door and walked out. Marissa gave him a look that said 'go' and he did. Theresa was waiting for them by her Mercedes, a stony expression on her face. Maddy started to stomp over there, but Ryan stopped her. "Hey, hey, come here and give me a hug," he told her. She walked over to him and gave him a cold hug. "Give this to your Mom okay?" he told her and gave her a piece of paper; the directions to Eddie's house. She snatched it from him and walked to Theresa's car, gave it to her and than got in the car.

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking back to the apartment. He tried not to slam the door, so closed it slightly, and saw Marissa sitting on the couch. "She left," Ryan announced as he sat down next to her. "Are you okay?" she asked and put a hand on his knee. "I'm fine," he said with a small smile, "and I have you to thank for that".

She smiled, and kissed him. "And I have just the way for you thank me," she told him, planting a big one on his soft lips. He let out a soft groan and brought her up a little. They both kneeled on the couch, Ryan kissing her neck passionately. "Mmm, so long," she gasped.

"Too long," he grunted.

He slipped his hands under her t-shirt and crept his hands up her skin until the shirt was lying on the floor, so she was only in her tank top. They continued kissing, never parting their lips once, until Ryan kissed down and kissed across her chest, and licked up her neck, breathing hard. Marissa struggled with the one button on his button down until she finally just snapped it off. He laughed lightly, "If you keep ripping my shirts, I won't have any left."

"Sorry," she said, putting their lips together once again. "Don't be," he whispered and slowly lay her down on the couch, following on top of her.

Downstairs; "Do you have everything honey?" Theresa asked. Maddy nodded from the back seat, but than stopped. "Oh, wait! I forgot my back pack!" she exclaimed and climbed out of the Mercedes and ran up to Ryan's apartment.

"Honey, wait!" Theresa commanded as she got out of the car too. But Madison was looking carefully for any cars, and than running towards the doors. "Maddy! I can't run in my..." she mumbled, "my new Prada heels," and than groaned as she followed the little footsteps.

"Let's go to the room," Marissa panted. "Okay," said Ryan as he got off of her but brought her up with him so they were kneeling again and engaged in another full lip lock.

Maddy stopped when she got to Ryan's floor, and could hear Theresa moaning and groaning not too far behind her. She looked for apartment 12 and finally saw it and some light shining through, so she started to head towards the door.

**A/N-** -gasps- uh-oh! Will she find out? Please review, thanks! OH!!! And I'm just going to say that Caleb and Julie didn't work out, so she married 'Richard'. But hope you still like.


	8. No Regrets

**No Regrets**

**Disclaimer- **-sighs- People, I am not Josh Schwartz, but if he was my relative, I would follow him around constantly.

**A/N- **So...the cliffhanger ends in this one. I'm not sure how long this chapter would be, I guess you'll find out at the end. Thanks to **TheOCisMe** for the suggestion. I hope it has a little bit of what everyone wants. It is just so funny for me to write Theresa, with her designer clothes, and palm pilots, just too great! Oh, and if Maddy does walk in on them, she won't be scarred forever; Marissa does have her tank top on. And SS will have a little more active role in probably the next chapter, as you'll find out, with all my twists and all. ;)

On with the story...

Marissa finally got Ryan off the couch as they made their way to the bedroom, still holding onto each other tightly; his hands up her shirt, her tank top still in tact as well as Ryan's. "Come on," she said huskily as their feet tangled into one another, and Ryan fell on the woodened floor, bringing Marissa down with him.

He started laughing and Marissa joined him, still in the same position when Maddy came in.

She started hearing voices, and barged in to see what it was all about. "What's going on?" she asked. Ryan froze and quickly got up, his hands still up Marissa's shirt. Maddy noticed his hands move swiftly but had no idea where they moved to and from. For the first time in a long time, she noticed her father's tattoo on his left arm. She hadn't seen it for the longest time, and almost forgot that he had it. She knew Theresa had always made a big deal about it, saying it wasn't a good example for her, so he had always kept it hidden with his long button down shirts or t-shirts that just barely covered it. But now, he was in a wifebeater, and it was clearly visible and when he was standing to Marissa, guilt washing over their faces. "What's going on?" she asked again, still holding on to the doorknob.

"Maddy, sweetie...don't make...don't make me skip so...many steps," Theresa called out in between deep breaths. 'Damn personal trainer', she thought as she clutched her knee, walking in the frame of the door.

She looked at the scene before her, and snorted, and looked at them expectantly. "Uh..." "Um..." were all Ryan and Marissa could say. "I fell..." he started.

"And I helped him up," Marissa finished. Theresa gave them a 'right' look, but kept her mouth shut. "What are you doing back?" Ryan asked, trying to ease up the tension, and change the subject.

"I forgot my backpack," Maddy explained, still eyeing them suspiciously.

Ryan eyed the living room and spotted the pinkest thing in the room and went over there and picked it up, and walked over to Maddy and handed it to her. Kneeling down in front of her, he looked her in the eye, he started to speak. "Are you okay?"

"Can I stay with you?" she asked hopefully. Ryan looked up at Theresa, who bent down and picked her up. "No, we should just leave your Daddy and Marissa..." she said with a smirk, "to catch up." Ryan and Marissa both glared daggers her way.

"I'll see you later, okay?" he confirmed and took Madison from Theresa's arms and hugged her. "Don't cry, you're a big girl," he comforted. She sniffled a few more times, but hugged Ryan back, and wriggled out of his arms and ran down the stairs.

"Well, get back to whatever you were doing," Theresa said sarcastically.

"Theresa..." Ryan warned.

"No, really, I mean it Ryan, excuse me while I go take care of 'my' daughter"," she added evilly. Ryan was pissed now, "Theresa..." he trembled.

"Whatever Ryan, I'll see you today," and turned around, but than turned back, "Don't be late, 'cuz I'm not gonna do it if you're not there," and than chased after Maddy.

Ryan went and slammed the door, scaring Marissa. "Damn it!" he yelled as he pounded his fist against the door. Marissa flinched from the noise and moved for the first time during the conversation, and slowly walked up to Ryan, who was cursing the door. She was afraid, but knew he would soften up eventually, but could never be too cautious. "Hey, hey," she said soothingly, "It's okay," and winded her arms around his neck and pulled him back from the door and into her arms. He didn't cry, but hugged her tightly.

"Why does this always happen?" he choked out.

"Why does what always happen?"

"Nothing ever goes right in my life."

Marissa's comforting frown turned into a sad frown, and she fought to keep her tears back. "I'm gonna go get dressed," he told her, leavingher embrace, and went into the bedroom to go get dressed. Marissa sighed and sadly followed.

--

The car ride to Chino had been very silent for Ryan and Marissa. She had her legs crossed, looking distantly out the window, while Ryan looked over at her constantly. He knew what he had said earlier had hurt her, but there was no way to make up for it. "Hey," he said softly, trying to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she replied, still looking out the window. He swallowed as the 'Welcome to Chino' sign came up, as did she. She waited for him to say something, but he looked intently at the road, watching for any speed bumps or pedestrians. Once they were 'safely' in some of the more secluded roads, Ryan took his gaze off the road and focused it on Marissa. "Hey," he said once again.

"Hmm?" she repeated, her attention still out the window.

He took his hand away from the stick shift and reached over to her hand and grabbed hers in his own, slowly at first, but than tightly as he moved it back on top of stick shift. "I didn't mean what I said today," he started out.

She twisted her head so she was facing him, her elbow leaning on the window rest, and her head in her palm. "Don't regret anything, okay?" she told him.

"But that's-" his voice rose, and than he softened up a little, "but that's just the thing, I do."

Marissa cut him off, "Do you regret sleeping with me?" Ryan took his focus from the road, and let it rest on hers. "No," he shook his head. "Than why do you regret this?"

"Because I didn't mean it."

"But you did mean to sleep with me?" she questioned.

"Yes, I mean no, now I'm confused," he admitted.

"Ryan, I regret a lot of things in my life, small things, when I was younger, being friends with certain people, things like that, and than when I was older, I regretted more mature things, but the thing I regret most was losing you," she told him.

"You didn't lose me," he defended.

"Yes, I did. I distanced myself from you, and now look where that got you."

"Marissa..." he started, "don't blame yourself."

"I don't. I blame you."

Ryan looked surprised, and shocked by her words.

"I'm not the one who slept with Theresa. I, for one can control my raging hormones, and not sleep with the first thing that pops out," she continued. Ryan looked even more surprised. "But like you said that day to me, you wish you could take it back, and I wish I could take it back, so let's just leave the past behind us," she finished.

"A few hours ago was not the past!" he yelled, pulling over to a small brick house.

"The past was a minute ago!" she yelled back.

He sighed before continuing, "Look," he stated and looked her in the eye. "I didn't mean what I said," he defended.

"Than why did you say it?"

"It was just a spur of the moment thing." Pause. "I love you!" he said bluntly.

"What?" asked a confused Marissa. "That makes absolutely no sense!"

"It was just spur of the moment!" he explained.

"Did you mean it?" she challenged.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it!" he explained, still yelling.

"Exactly!" Marissa pointed out. He rolled his eyes and put the car back in drive, and started driving again. "Why does everything become so complicated for us?" he questioned Marissa. She shrugged her shoulders and crept her hand over to his, which was lying on the stick shift and lay smoothly on top of his. He let out a small smile and intertwined their fingers. "I love you too," she told him.

"Spur of the moment?" he asked with a grin. She grinned back. "I love you too," he said, "I didn't mean what--" Marissa cut him off, "I know"; she said sweetly and leaned on him.

Ryan finally pulled up to a small house, but definitely the best kept house on the block, it had a presentable look with a well kept roof, and lawn, and even stained glass windows. _Stained glass windows? Eddie?_ They both thought. They already saw silver Mercedes parked in the driveway, so Ryan pulled up behind it.

"Ready?" he asked. Marissa nodded and let go of his hand and opened the door, as Ryan got out as well, and went over to her side, escorting her out with his hand. She squeezed his hand as they made their way to the door, and Ryan hesitantly rang the doorbell and flattened out his shirt as Marissa did the same with her skirt. Ryan wore khaki pants and a navy blue button down with his black boots, while Marissa wore another knee length black skirt with some sort of white appliqué and a matching white sweater and sandals.

Eddie came to the door; obviously confused of what was going on. "Hey Ryan, Marissa," he greeted.

"Hi Eddie," Ryan greeted, shaking his hand, as did Marissa. He welcomed them in, as they looked around the place, admiring Eddie's sense of style.

He had to be living with his mom. T

heresa stood up, as Maddy greeted Ryan with a hug. "You're here!" she yelled happily. "I told you I would," he told her.

"Hi Marissa!" she greeted. Marissa smiled at the little girl's excitement, "Hey Maddy," she greeted back.

"Ryan," Theresa greeted coldly,

"Theresa," he greeted back.

"Marissa," she acknowledged.

"Theresa," Marissa acknowledged her.

"Eddie! Okay, Eddie here and would really like to know what's going on," Eddie explained as he pointed to himself.

"Eddie? Honey? What are two Mercedes doing in our driveway, did you win the lottery?" a woman's voice called out as she came into view into the living room and hugged Eddie from behind; once she noticed 4 other people staring at her, she pulled back. She had fiery red hair, pale skin, and a doctor's smock on that fit her small body perfectly.

"Uh, everyone? This is my wife, Allison. Allison, this is Theresa, Maddy, Ryan and Marissa," he introduced everyone.

Different versions of 'hi' were heard as they looked around awkwardly. "I don't mean to be rude, but what are you guys doing here?" Eddie asked. The other 3 adults looked at each other than back at Eddie.

Theresa sighed, and picked up Maddy, who was playing with the coaster on the wooden coffee table, and held her in her arms. "Maddy..." she hesitated, "Maddy is your daughter".

"What?!" he practically screamed.

"What?!" a surprised Allison asked.

Maddy dropped the coaster she was playing with, as the words replayed in her head over and over again. Once they made sense, "What?!" she screamed, clueless as Eddie and Allison.

**A/N- **Well my lovely reviewers, I leave you with yet another cliffhanger. Fun! Fun! Fun! It wasn't really an eventful chapter, except the ending, but next chapter will be longer, this one is particularly short. I might have some SS, but you'll see how I incorporate everyone into it. So, next...Reactions! Any ideas? Let me know...


	9. Regrets

**Regrets**

**Disclaimer- **usual one applies

**A/N- **I know some of you might be wondering why Eddie married Allison, and for those for you who were, you'll find out. Thanks for all the great reviews, I really appreciate them, and please keep them up!

On with the story...

Silence had filled the room for about a full minute. Ryan was the first to notice and spoke up. Allison had both hands wrapped around her belly. "Are you...um, are you pregnant?" he asked.

Allison nodded her head slowly, "3 months," she whispered. Now Ryan felt even worse for dumping this on Eddie and his new family.

"What do you mean Daddy's not my Daddy?" Madison spoke up. All of the adults looked over at the little girl, who had wriggled free of Theresa's grip and was tugging at Ryan's pants.

Eddie looked at both of them before bending down and picking Maddy up, and examining her. 'She looks like me', he thought.

"What do you mean?" she asked, frustrated with no one giving her answer. "What's going on?!" she demanded, tugging at Eddie's chin.

"Marissa!" she yelled, looking over at a helpless Marissa. "Daddy?" she said weakly, looking at Ryan. "Daddy?" she whispered again, looking at Eddie.

"Hey, you know what? Why don't you come with me?" Allison offered, taking Maddy's hand and leading her to one of the rooms.

"She is mine," Eddie confirmed, watching after her.

Theresa nodded her head, "Yeah."

Eddie looked sharply at her, "And now you tell me!" he yelled. "And you!"; he nodded towards Ryan, "Man, I can't believe you. You knew, and now, when everything is going right in my life, you pour this bullshit on me!"

"Hey man, I didn't know anything about it, I just found out about a week ago, you're lucky we're even telling you!" Ryan retorted.

He sighed and sat down in one of the chairs, and rubbed his temples repeatedly. "So what made you tell him now?" he asked Theresa.

"Um, well..."

God, this was going to be hard to explain.

"Me and Theresa are married, or separated now," Ryan started uncomfortably.

"So you and Marissa together now?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said, casting a quick sideways glance at Marissa. "And that's when Theresa told me."

"Well thanks for the news Theresa, yeah, thanks so much, 6 years later," he said sarcastically. "So what do you want me to do...pay child support? What?"

"No man, of course not, just thought you should know," Ryan butt in.

Eddie kept inhaling and exhaling like he was some sort of wind man. "So when did this happen?"

Theresa finally spoke up, "Well, it was around the time you asked me to marry you..." to which both her and Eddie looked up and glared at each other. "And I went back to Newport, it was after the engagement, and when you lost your job, I was pregnant, and went back to Newport...and well, you get the idea. After you hit me," she added softly, about to cry.

Eddie stormed up, "You know what Theresa! It's not like I killed anyone, I didn't rape you, I threw something and it hit you. But what did you expect me to do? Marry you? Bow down? We were gonna get married, and your run off to your rich little boyfriend! No offense"; he pointed towards Ryan.

"None taken," Ryan said.

"So you come back, and I tell you to be honest with me, and you tell me you had sex with him, I lose my job the next day, and my Mom's about to kick me out, and said I should live with my fiance, my fucking fiance! But no ma, my fiance goes prancing around, prying off little rich boys, and getting what she wants when she wants it. Theresa! I loved you, okay, you're the first girl I gave my heart to, and you betray me, you broke my heart," he finished sadly.

"That gave you no right to hit me!" she yelled.

"She's right," Ryan chipped in.

"I know! I know!" he said, frustrated, putting his hands behind his head and rocking back forth on foot. He finally sat down, and the other three adults sat down as well. He finally looked up, "She's really mine, huh?" he asked; recieving nods from Ryan and Theresa. Sighing deeply, "And that's for sure?"

"We did another paternity test about a week ago," Ryan explained.

Eddie nodded, and leaned back in the chair, "I have a daughter," he whispered to himself.

--

After a few minutes, Maddy had escaped from the room, and ran into the living room. "Are you my Daddy?" she asked, running up to Eddie and tugging on his arm. He looked at Theresa, and than back at Maddy, into her eyes, eyes that resembled his own. He nodded and watched her facial expressions change.

"But..." she protested, trying to find the right words. "What about him?"; pointing to Ryan. "What about Ryan? Isn't he my Dadd...?" she couldn't finish her question and started crying. "Mommy!" she bawled, running over to Theresa and crying in her lap.

"Oh, baby, it's okay, come on, it's okay", she soothed.

"Ryan's your Dad too, okay," Theresa protested.

"I have two Dad's?" she questioned, shrugging.

Nothing to say.

Theresa nodded, "Yeah, but Ryan's your Dad too."

"Than how come I never knew Eddie 'afore?" she asked. "Which one's my real Daddy?" she asked sadly, afraid of the answer.

Theresa did a double look at Ryan, and than Eddie, "Eddie," she responded softly.

"So Ryan's not mine?"

"Yes, of course he's yours, he's your Daddy, he's been there for you through it all"; she gripped her tiny little shoulders, "Who taught you how to ride a bike?"

Maddy wiped away the tears from her eyes, "The first Daddy." Ryan seemed lost in his own little world, and couldn't believe that words coming out of her mouth.

"And what was your first word?" Maddy shrugged. "Dad," Theresa told her. She started crying, and ran over to Ryan, hopping on his lap. "I love you!" she yelled in his ear, her voice nasal. He patted her back, "I know, I love you too."

After a few more sniffles, she regained composure. "How many Mom's do I have?" she asked. Ryan let out light laugh, "Just one."

"Marissa's not my Mom?"

"No, Marissa's not your Mom."

"I'm a confused," she told them, scratching her head.

"When you're older, it'll all make sense."

"But I want you to be my Daddy," she told Ryan, patting his head.

"I am, okay, I am," he told her, cradling her in his arms.

She had so many questions.

"Where do I live? With you? With Mommy? With Eddie? I'm a so confused!" she yelled out again.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, we're the grown-ups, we'll figure it out, not you, just don't cry, be a big girl,"

"I don't want you to leave me," she whispered hoarsely, clutching onto his neck.

"I won't, okay, I'll never leave you."

"Okay, good night," she said, resting herself in his arms, and drifting off to a deep uncomfortable sleep.

**A/N- **Okay, that's it, I'll try to post soon. When will the truth finally come out? I'm thinking soon, have a little plan to tie it in.


	10. Spur of the Moment

**Spur of the Moment**

**Disclaimer**-usual

**A/N-**Hehe, sorry if I confused you guys with the last author's note, guess I just have my way with words, lol. I just meant everyone else finding out about them, like Maddy and the Cohen's. Also, sorry if I made anyone feel uncomfortable with the Theresa and Eddie situation, but in a way I guess it's sort of flattering, I have range to do that, but anyways, I appreciate all the reviews, thanks so much!

(Tuesday - day Marissa is supposed to go back to New York)

On with the story...

Ryan parked his car in the airport and got out, Marissa following out as well. He went to the trunk, and got out her suitcase as she joined him with her carry on and took his hand as they started to walk inside. Marissa started to check the flight schedules, and saw that her flight was being delayed.

"Looks like my flight's delayed, do you wanna get something to eat?" she asked him.

Ryan nodded and looked around, looking for a place to eat. He spotted a small cafe, and started walking towards it, Marissa on hand.

Once they got their food, they sat down at one of the small square tables and started eating. Marissa looked at him and as he poked his chicken salad with the plastic fork. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay while I'm gone?" she asked, concerned.

He looked up and gave her a small smile. "It's one week, I'm a big boy, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I know, I just..." She stopped as she slipped her hand under the chair and moved the chair towards the othe side so she was closer to him. "I'll just miss you, I mean it's a whole week without you!" she laughed softly. He smiled a little bigger and leaned in to give her a kiss. She smiled and kissed back, wrapping an arm around his neck, her hand rubbing the nape of his neck gently.

"I'll miss you too," he told her when they finally pulled back.

"Well let's make the best of it while I am here," she said sarcastically.

Ryan raised his eyebrows and Marissa laughed. "Kidding!" she exclaimed, giving him one last quick peck on the lips. "But it made you smile didn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it did, thanks."

"I just want you to be happy Ry, that's all, and ever since...well, you know the whole Maddy thing..."

He shrugged and tried not to think of it.

After Maddy and Eddie's first encounter, Eddie wanted to take responsibilty, and wanted to be in Maddy's life. She wanted Eddie, her real Dad, in her life as well and had gotten along well when they did spend time together. She had also spend time at Ryan's apartment along with Marissa, and Marissa was really starting to grow on her. They still thought it would be better to wait and tell her about their relationship after Marissa came back from New York and was actually living with Ryan.

For now, it may had not been perfect, but it was all right for the time being.

After their lunch, Marissa went and bought a magazine and a coffee and sat down next to Ryan in one of the chairs.

He put an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer into himself. She started flipping through the pages, Ryan nodding uninterestingly whenever she made a comment. She rested her head on his shoulder, facing his neck, and started kissing it. Ryan was surprised and looked at her. She smiled sweetly at him and leaned in, giving him a big kiss on the lips. He put his hand on the back of her head, continuing to kiss her.

A little giggle was heard from behind them, and they pulled back slowly. A little boy, who looked to be around 4 or 5 giggled as he looked at them.

"Hey little guy," Marissa greeted.

The little boy giggled, putting his hands over his mouth, trying to hold them in.

Ryan looked at Marissa and than back at the boy and smiled. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Hehe," he continued giggling. "My sister and her boyfriend do that," he said in between giggles.

Ryan and Marissa laughed slightly, but Ryan spoke up. "That's nice," he said.

The little boy continued giggling and Ryan nor Marissa could help but laugh. A woman came up to them, and dragged him away. "Gregory!" she scolded. His giggles were faintly heard as he waved to them. "I'm so sorry," the woman apologized.

"It's alright," they both said, and watched them walk away.

Ryan sighed happily as he put his forehead against Marissa's and gave her a quick kiss. "He was so cute," Marissa said.

Ryan nodded, "Cute," he repeated.

"Do we think we'll ever have any?" Marissa asked longingly.

"I'm sure we will," Ryan responded gently. "Plenty," he said with a smile as he kissed her forehead.

Little did they know that someone had heard this conversation and had seen them.

--

Summer glared at Seth while he went through baggage claim. Seth finally caught her stare. "When are you gonna stop being mad at me?" he asked.

"When you don't ruin my honeymoon!" she snapped.

"Look," he started, taking off his sunglasses.

"What!"

"Look at my face," he told her, pointing to his face.

"What about it?!"

"Uh, is looking not enough?"

"Whatever," she shrugged it off.

Seth sighed and slowly touched the side of his face. Summer was still mad at him; he had ruined their honeymoon. He had fallen asleep on the beach all day and was burnt to a crisp. The Island doctor told him it would be best to not get much sunlight for the next few days. Summer was mad that they couldn't go anywhere, so they just decided to go back home. Seth promised her that they would defintely go back, but Summer was still skeptical.

"I promise!" he said loudly.

"Cohen!" she exclaimed, obviously embarassed.

Seth softened up. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, just please don't be mad at me," he pleaded.

"I'll think about it," she told him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

She was about to snap back with a comment, when she noticed two familiar figures walking only a few feet away from them.

Ryan and Marissa...again.

'What the hell? Is this some sort of joke?' she thought. 'Two encounters?'

Seth noticed her staring and decided to make a sarcastic comment. "Summer? Could you please not check out other men while I'm here, I mean I may be burned, but I still have feelings." He laughed at his own joke.

Summer still didn't take her eyes off of Ryan and Marissa. Seth followed her stare, and it was the back of two sandy blondes heads.

"Why are you staring!?" he demanded to know. He saw them turn their heads, most likely to lean in for a kiss; and that's what exactly what they did. He could see their profiles perfectly, and knew exactly who it was.

"Oh my god, it's Ryan and Marissa, kissing!" he whispered.

"I told you, I told you!" Summer whispered back.

Seth took off his sunglasses, and saw a little boy come up to Ryan and Marissa, and than his mother swiftly took him away and Ryan and Marissa continued to whisper things to each other.

"Go say something!" Seth ordered.

Summer shook her head. "No, you do it!"

They were hidden behind a post, so Ryan and Marissa had no way of seeing them, and their backs were turned to them anyways, so it didn't matter.

The little boy who had talked to Ryan and Marissa earlier, he had plopped himself down near Seth and Summer's feet and was playing with his toy fire truck. When Seth took off his sunglasses, he squealed, half out of laughter, half out of fright.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look at this man's face!" Gregory shouted, waving his hands wildly in the air.

Ryan and Marissa broke their embrace from each other, and turned their heads to the familiar sound of Gregory's voice, but surprised to come face to face with something else besides Gregory.

They were caught.

**A/N-**Ummm...not much to say, but any suggestions would be helpful, if you have any. I didn't really want to continue with this chapter, so I'll just start it next chapter. Oh, and the thing with Ryan and Marissa having kids, and Ryan saying "plenty" and stuff like that, it was just to show you that they do plan on having a family, and are comfortable with the idea. Hope you liked it, and please review!


	11. Coming Clean

**Coming Clean**

**Disclaimer-** Nothing, that's Tarzan speak for same as usual.

**A/N-** I'll try to make this as long as possibe, that's pretty much all I can say, and thanks for all the great reviews! Very helpful in critqiuing, and I'l try to update as much as I can when school starts.

And let the story continue...

Ryan and Marissa got up from the blue airport chairs and faced Seth and Summer. Gregory's mother came over to Gregory and picked him up, dragging him away. "I am so sorry!" she apologized. They waved her off and that was the last they saw from Gregory.

"Um, hey you guys," Marissa said slowly.

"What are you guys doing!?" Summer asked quickly, the disappointment obvious in her voice.

"Are you guys together?" Seth asked.

Ryan and Marissa looked at each other and nodded, "Yeah."

"What...what about Theresa, and what about Maddy?" asked Seth, trying to process how they had gotten together.

"Um...actually me and Theresa are in the middle of the divorce, and Maddy's with Eddie," Ryan explained.

Seth and Summer's jaws' dropped to the ground with the divorce issue, but seemed confused with the Eddie issue. "Eddie?" Seth asked. Ryan nodded his head. "Like Chino Eddie? Theresa's ex-fiance or whatever Eddie?"

Ryan nodded once again. "And um...Maddy's not mine either," he said sadly.

"But than that would mean...!" Seth trailed off. "No!" he yelled, finally catching on to the whole story.

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!" Ryan said with less entusiasm.

Summer finally caught on as well. "Oh my god! No way! Wait! Than you were together at the wedding."

Ryan and Marissa both nodded their heads. "Oh, wow," Seth finally took all this in.

"Flight to New York, now boarding, Flight to New York now boarding," the voice over announced.

"Oh, that's uh...that's my flight," Marissa told Seth and Summer.

"Oh, than, we'll talk when you guys get back," Summer suggested. Ryan and Marissa looked at each other, "Yeah, sure." Marissa gave them both hugs, and looked at Ryan with the same expression on her face as the last time they had been at the airport. She gave him a look that said it all, and started walking away. "We'll talk when we get back!" he told them both, and walking away, catching up to Marissa.

They were near the gates, and time to say good bye for a week. The voice over announced the flight again, making them both feel rushed. "Let's just do this quick, before I cry again," she said with a weak smile. He smiled and leaned into to kiss her. They kissed for a while, until they were getting stares and finally broke apart.

"So...I'll call you when I get there."

She saw Ryan hesitate and got confused. "Uh...what's wrong?"

"You won't have to call me," he said confidently.

"Why not?" she asked, holding onto his hand tightly.

"Because I'm coming with you."

Marissa widened her eyes, "You're what?!"

"Come on!" he said, still holding her hand tightly, and dragging her away from the gates.

"Ryan!"

Ryan turned around, holding her tightly against himself. "Marissa, I love you, we all have choices to make, and this is mine," he explained.

She smiled, a few joyful tears coming down her face. "Are you sure?" she asked.

He smiled and kissed her hard. "Guess we'll never find out if I don't get a ticket!" and started jogging towards the ticket booth, Marissa hot on his tail.

"Excuse me," he said, out of breath. He leaned his hands on the counter, "Excuse me," he repeated. "Is there any chance I can get a ticket to New York, right now?" he asked.

The old lady behind the counter smiled warmly at him. "Let me check;" and started looking at her computer. Ryan turned around and brought Marissa's sweaty hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you."

She smiled at him, "I love you too."

The ticket lady interupted them. "Yes sir, there is still an opening on the New York flight, but it's coach."

Ryan nodded his head gratefully, "That's fine."

"Ryan? I'm in first class," Marissa told him. "My work pays for it," she further explained. "Is there any way I can exchange this for coach?" she hurridely asked. The lady nodded and after making the payments and necessary arrangements. "Thank you!" they both yelled at the lady, walking away.

"Final boarding call for New York, this is the final boarding call for New York!"

Marissa ran to the gates, still out of breath as well Ryan. "Please..." they said out of breath, as they handed their tickets over. The flight attendant nodded and let them pass by, as they walked inside.

Finally inside, they started to make their way to their seats. They finally found them and plopped down. "Phew!" they said breathlessly.

The stewardess walked by them. "If you could please buckle up, we'll be taking off soon."

Ryan stiffed up and the stewardess walked away. "Oh, I forgot that I hate planes."

Marissa laughed and buckled herself up, and looked over at Ryan, whose hands were clutched onto the arm rests. She laughed again and buckled himself up as well. "Do you know what the best part of this is?" she asked.

He shook his head, "What?"

"It's a spur of the moment decision."

He smiled, and let his sweaty hand touch hers, of course clutching it tightly like it was an arm rest. "We're all about spur of the moment?" he asked jokingly.

She leaned in to kiss his bobbling head. "Yes, we are."

He laughed and kissed her again. The pilot made a few announcements and they started taking off. "Holy shit," he mumbled. "Next time I have a spur of the moment, moment, tell me to pack clothes and make sure it's not on a plane." They finally got in the air after a few minutes. "Smooth sailing from here," Marissa explained.

"Except turbulence?" he asked.

"Come on, the movie's starting to play," she motioned towards the TV. He sighed and continued to hold her hand tightly.


	12. And It All Fits

**And It All Fits**

**Disclaimer-**same old, same old

**A/N-**The end of this chapter is going to move kind of fast, at least I think so, but oh well, hope you still like. And thanks to palmxera for the plane idea, haha.

Everyone on the plane was still sleeping, except Ryan, who still had his death grip on Marissa's hand and was breathing heavily. Marissa looked around the plane and squeezed Ryan's hand affectionately.

"Come on," she urged. Ryan shook his head violently. "Come with me, I have to show you something."

"Can't you just show me here?" he asked.

"No, now come on."

He sighed, irritated, but followed anyways, continuing to hold her hand tightly. Marissa opened the bathroom door and pushed them both in. "You want me to watch you pee?" he asked. Marissa shook her head. "Okay? Than what?"

"This!" she whispered loudly; ramming him against the door. "Okay, whoa!" he exclaimed excitedly. Marissa wiggled her eyebrows and walked towards him and pushed up against him.

"Are we doing what I think we're doing?" he asked.

"What are we doing?" she asked innocently.

"Well, I thought we were going to..." he was cut off as Marissa ground her hips into his and kissed him passionately. "Yep, we're doing what I think we're doing...and in a plane," he finally concluded, highly amused.

"Ryan?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut up," she told him, cutting him off, kissing him again.

"Have your way with me Ms. Cooper," he joked.

"Oh I will...don't worry." The smirk remained on her face as she lifted Ryan's shirt up. They hit turbulence again and Ryan was rammed into the door once again. Marissa giggled with a mouth over her hand as she watched the expression on his face change several times. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine, fine," he grunted.

She practically jumped him, straddling his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Not when I get through with you," she whispered in ear, than sucking on it before he had a chance to reply.

"You know? I really like planes now," he stated while Marissa ferociously unbuttoned his shirt. She leaned in for a vicious kiss and pulled back abruptly, "Me too."

--

"Fun," Ryan whispered quietly in Marissa's ear as they made their way back to their seats after some bathroom fun. Marissa smiled and sat down in her seat as Ryan followed suit.

She checked her watch, "We land in about half an hour." Ryan nodded his head and looked out the window, "Actually, I kinda wish we never could get off...I like planes now..." he directed his sly smile towards her.

"Well, there's always the return flight..." she remembered, and watched as Ryan looked amazingly out the window, and saw all of New York, in the night.

"It's so pretty," she admired, leaning over, her hands in Ryan's lap. Ryan nodded and looked back at her. "Yeah, it is."

Marissa blushed and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling slightly tired. "I can't wait to land," Ryan stated in between breaths. Marissa laughed softly, falling asleep by the second.

--

"Wow, this is nice," Ryan admired Marissa's New York Loft. "Glad you like it 'cuz you're gonna be in here for a week..." she giggled, leading him inside.

Marissa started pointing and showing him where everything was when she felt Ryan's hand on the side of her waist. "And the bedroom is...where?" he asked in between kisses.

"I have to pee," Marissa announced. Ryan pulled back slightly, "Way to ruin the mood," he said with a slight smile.

"Sorry," she apologized, "But I had to go since the plane..."

Ryan laughed. "It's fine."

Marissa sneaked in one more kiss before leading him towards the direction of the room. "Just make yourself comfortable," she pointed towards the bed. Ryan nodded and Marissa started to walk away. Bouncing on the bed a few times, he was satisfied and leaned against the headboard, waiting for Marissa to come back out.

--

"Ryan?" Marissa asked once she saw Ryan sleeping. "Ryan?" she asked again in a sing song voice. Laughing quietly to herself, she took the blanket from the vanity chair and put it around him; than snuggled herself right next to him, slowly as not to wake him up.

--

"How long are you gonna be there?" Maddy's voice was heard coming through the phone.

"Just a few more days," Ryan answered.

It had been about 4 days since Ryan's surprise visit to New York with Marissa and the very next day, Ryan had called Maddy to tell her some of the details. He didn't realize how much he missed her when he heard the sound of her voice.

"Eddie's taking me to the water park!" she exclaimed happily.

"Oh? Isn't it a little too early to be going to the water park?" Ryan asked worriedly.

Maddy shook her head over the phone, "No! It's still hot here!"

Ryan heard the bedroom door open and out came a very sleepy Marissa. "Mor..." her words were caught off by an enormous yawn. She sighed and plopped herself down next to Ryan. "Morning," she greeted, nestling herself comfortably on his outstretched arm.

Realizing he was talking to someone on the phone, her head perked up. "Maddy?" she mouthed. Ryan nodded and handed the phone over to her. "Morning Maddy!"

"Hi Marissa! Guess what!?" she asked excitedly.

Marissa couldn't contain herself from a smile. "What?"

"Eddie's taking me to a water park today!"

"Really? Wow!"

"Yeah...and I also got a new bathing suit yesterday, here let me go get it!" she announced as Marissa could hear loud footsteps, most likely Maddy jumping off of something. "I found it! It has pretty little flowers on the top in pink and yellow flowers at the bottom..." she described her bathing suit.

"Wow, sounds very pretty..."

"It is...So when are you bringing my Daddy home?" she asked in a soft whisper.

Marissa smiled to herself; Maddy loved Ryan as though he was really her father...which despite the situation, he wasn't. They quickly said their good byes seeing as Maddy had to leave soon when the doorbell rang and Ryan came out of the kitchen he was rummaging through and answered it, in boxers and wifebeater. If the messenger was a woman she would've been pleased, but she wasn't, it was a young boy who gave him a weird look, dropped the package off and ran down the stairs. Ryan raised his eyebrows and bent down to retrieve the package. Turning around, he saw Marissa staring at him.

"What?" He asked, coming over to her.

"Nothing..." she shook her head, playing nervously with hem of Ryan's wifebeater. She smiled and looked up at him, "It's just...you have a _very_ cute tush." When she wrapped her arms around his lower waist, right above his ass, he laughed and leaned into her.

The small package still remained in Ryan's hands as he snuck a peek over it, only to find it was addressed to him. "Wow? I get mail at your house?" he marveled, opening the package as Marissa sat down next to him. He started to read it's contents, getting an agitated look on his face.

"What is it?" Marissa asked once she noticed.

Ryan just shook his head. "No, it's um...nothing, but remember when I told you I called my firm to have them mail my next case to me...well they did it's a divorce case...but this..." he paused looking at the name once again. "This person's name...it sounds so familiar but I can't quite put a finger on it..." He stared off into the distance while Marissa got a peek at it.

"You don't remember Anna Stern?" She asked. Ryan thought for a moment than shook his head. "Anna Stern? Short? Pixie Cut? Went out with Seth, Anna Stern," Marissa refreshed his memory.

You could almost see a lightening bolt pop over Ryan's head as he remembered. "She's been married for...3 years...and is counter suing for full custody of their 1 year old daughter and dog..."

Marissa feigned shock, "Wow, a child?"

"Yeah, and a dog," he said with a small laugh. She laughed as well before taking the papers out of his hands. "It'll be good to see an old friend won't it?" she asked, sliding onto his lap, her hands slowly massaging the front of his shoulders. Ryan smiled and nodded his head slightly.

"Fill your hands with something else besides..." Leaning into kiss him, her cool morning breath on his. "Work papers..."

Ryan leaned in even more, capturing her lips viciously in his own, not letting go, he brought his hands to her butt cheeks, squeezing them tightly while Marissa let out a delighted squeal, opening her eyes in a surprised shock as she kissed back.

**A/N-**There we go...another chapter completed! I hope you enjoyed and lets hope I can get more done with this one since I don't have Forbidden Flower anymore...well one more chapter but you get the point. Anyhoo...let me know what you think and review!


	13. We All Have Secrets

**We All Have Secrets**

**Disclaimer-** If it was mine, I'd be spending my money elsewhere than good ol' Michigan.

**A/N-** Yes, I am the laziest person alive and haven't posted in a while. Which I apologize for. But it's long, so hopefully you'll like it. Enjoy it :)

Marissa lugged the velvet brown suitcase out of her and Ryan's room as he laughed while watching her. She glared at him while continuing to struggle with her suitcase. "Are you gonna just stand there? Or get your ass over here!"

Ryan laughed again. "Maybe I'll just sit here and watch you, it's a much better view," he joked. Marissa smiled sarcastically at him, gripping the suitcase handle and flinging it at Ryan's feet. "You do it!" she hummed smugly at herself and started to walk into the kitchen. Ryan got up on his feet and went over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Ryan?" His name escaped from her mouth as she titled her head back, giving him better access. "Love you," he whispered into her neck, removing hair from her neck as he began kissing it.

"Bye Mommy!" Maddy's voice was heard screaming from the hallway. Ryan and Marissa immediately pulled back, wiping their lips and waiting for Maddy to come barging in. Maddy smiled as she came into view, running over to Ryan, hugging him with all her might. "Daddy!" she muffled out in his cheek, kissing him. "I missed you!"

Ryan smiled and kissed her head. "Missed you too princess," he whispered. "I missed you lots!" she giggled, letting go of his cheeks and backing up, only to get a better look at Marissa. "Marissa? You're still here?" she asked. "Yeah, I am. Hey Maddy."

Maddy looked around Ryan's apartment. "Are you living here?" she asked sadly, running her tiny hands over Marissa's unpacked suitcase. Marissa looked down at her, bending down near her level. "N-" Ryan started to say, but Marissa caught him off, taking his hand in hers. "Yeah sweetie, I am. In fact, me and your Daddy...we're dating."

And the truth was finally out to her.

"Oh. Like me and Tommy?" Maddy asked. Ryan's eyes widened. "Who's Tommy?"

"Ryan, shh." Marissa laughed and pat Maddy's shoulder. "Something like that, just a little more serious."

"Well me and Tommy love each other," Maddy countered.

"You what!?" Ryan asked bewildered.

Marissa tried hard not laugh and tugged on Ryan's hand until he was bending down as well. "Yeah, me and your Daddy love each other too. Is this okay with you?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I don't know. It's just Mommy bought that massuesy guy over and told me they were dating, and than Eddie has Allison, and now you have Marissa." She explained thoroughly and quietly. "No one has time for Maddy anymore," she whispered quietly. "No, no, no!" Ryan protested, picking her up in his arms. "No one will _ever _forget about Maddy, understand me?"

Maddy shrugged. "Guess so," she replied, letting go of his grip and walking into her room. Marissa turned to Ryan. "That went well."

"Better than I expected."

Marissa nodded her head. "True. It's just...gonna take a while...with everything you know, it's hard, I've been there." Ryan gave her a nod and hugged her tightly. "I'm just glad its out now so I can do this whenever I want," he told her with a cheeky smile, giving her lips a taste of his. She giggled and kissed him again while Maddy came out of the room and stared at them. "Do you want to help me unpack?" she asked, hand on her hips. Ryan pulled away, flushing, as he nodded and went over to Maddy's room as Maddy glared at Marissa.

--

"Anna! It's good to see you!" Ryan exclaimed, hugging her. Anna smiled brightly at him, examining him. "You too! Ugh, it's been so long hasn't it?" she asked. Ryan nodded and pulled back, going back into his office chair. "Yeah it has. But it's good to see a familiar face." He nodded again, looking down at her file. "So um...getting divorced?" he asked. Anna blushed. "Yeah, one night stands, pregnant, abortion, you know those things go."

Ryan knitted his brow, looking for a further explanation. Anna blushed again. "Oh...I meant...sorry...I'm sorry." He brushed it off. "It's okay." "Just um--last time I talked to Seth, that's what happened or so I heard."

He nodded at her. "Yeah...married, divorced." "Oh?" she asked interested. Getting a nod from Ryan again, she continued. "Custody issues?" Ryan let out a small laugh. "Um...more like girlfriend issues."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah...Marissa."

"Wow, I guess I _really _should come back into town more often." Just as she said that, a light blub seemed to flash over her head. "Oh...I see," she commented, getting the situation about him and Marissa. "Yeah." He was starting to get uncomfortable and looked around his office. "So...what are you doing back into town? Thought you lived in Pittsburgh. Came all the way to California just for a divorce lawyer?"

Anna shrugged. "I'm looking for a house here actually."

"Right. For you and your dog."

She laughed. "Wow, a sarcastic Ryan, never thought I'd see the day." Ryan laughed. "Yeah, things change though." "Yeah, I guess they do. I thought I was in love with my, hopefully soon to be ex husband, but no, he's just like everyone else I've dated."

"Good? Bad?"

"Let's just say that no one has as much in common with me as people like to think." Ryan gave her a nod, passing a few papers in her hand. "Well, all I need is for you to actually sign these...as well as..."

"Jared." Anna filled in.

"Yes, I need you to sign these and back with a settlement plan and estate issues if you have any, and just make an appointment with the secretary outside and I'm sure in a few months, it'll all be over."

Anna gave him a grateful smile and started to get up. "We should do something," she suggested, "us, Marissa and Seth and Summer." Ryan nodded, "Yeah, it'll be good for all of us to hang out again." Giving Ryan a hug again, she left as Ryan went back to work.

--

"Maddy's coming soon..." Marissa mumbled and giggled at the same time as Ryan kissed down her neck and to her collarbone. Ryan glanced at the clock on his nightstand and went up to her lips, giving them a quick, hard kiss. "Not for another hour."

"But the house is a mess," she complained. "Just the bedroom," Ryan deadpanned with a laugh. Marissa laughed as well and leaned in for another kiss as the doorbell rang. "Go, it's her." She told him as he hesitantly got off of her and buttoned his shirt back up. He jogged to the front door and was surprised to find Seth, Summer and Anna, all chatting among themselves. "You guys, hey," he said with a confused smile, scratching the back of his head. The trio stopped the conversation and looked towards Ryan. "Ryan!" Seth exclaimed. "How dare you move and not tell me!" "Yeah Chino!" Summer followed as she hit his arm. "Anna here had to give us directions, thanks by the way Tinkerbell," Summer thanked Anna as she piled into Ryan's apartment, patting Anna's head. Anna laughed and went after Summer. "How did you get my address?" he asked her interested.

Anna gave him a sly smirk. "Lawyers aren't the only ones who have connections." Ryan's eyebrows rose but he didn't say anything as Marissa came out, putting her back into a ponytail. "Ryan. Wh--" She caught herself off and looked at Ryan and than a double look at everyone in the living room. "Seth! Summer! _Anna?" _she asked, giving each of them hugs. "Marissa, it's great to see you!" Anna exclaimed. "You look great!"

"Thanks you too." She looked over at Ryan, who just looked confused and than back at them. "It's great to see all of you. But what are you doing here?"

Seth sat down first, making himself comfortable than Summer and Anna followed suit. "We met Anna at the rental car place," Summer started to explain, "And than we got to talking, than eventually you guys came up, and it seems that she had your address, and last we knew..."

"From the aiport," Seth cut in, "Ryan was getting divorced, so we just had to come and talk." He gave them both a toothy smile. "And your secretary is a very nice lady," Anna winked at Ryan. Ryan laughed. "Oh, so that's where you got the address." Anna nodded and than looked back at Marissa. "So where's Maddy?" Seth asked.

"She'll be here in about an hour," Ryan replied. "Oh...Theresa?" Seth asked sadly. "No, actually, Eddie."

Seth's eyes bulged. "Eddie?" He noticed Ryan's uncomfortable look and than looked at Marissa. "Marissa, could you get me something to drink? I'm parched." Summer slapped his arm. "Cohen, don't be so rude." "Rude? How am I rude?"

"You're a guest in this house!" she retorted.

"And guests ask for drinks."

Summer sighed, flustered and leaned back into the couch. "Well actually, me and Ryan were gonna take Maddy out to dinner, but it's fine, I can just whip something up for all of us," Marissa volunteered. Seth smiled at Summer than back at Marissa. "Why that would be lovely, thank you Marissa." Marissa nodded and left to go to the kitchen. "Quite the housewife you have there," Seth compliemented, looking at Ryan. Ryan watched after her retreating figure and smiled.

--

About an hour and a half later, they were all sitting down at the dinner table as Ryan looked at his watch nervously, waiting for Maddy to show up. The doorbell rang as Ryan flew out of his seat and to the door. "Finally," he muttered, picking Maddy up from Eddie's arms and into his own. "I was starting to get worried."

"Hey man, sorry about being late, traffic was a bitch."

Ryan glared at him. "I mean, traffic was a poop," he re worded. Maddy giggled, putting a hand over her mouth. "Okay, so Theresa has her on Monday?" Eddie asked. Ryan nodded. "And than I have her for the weekend."

"And than I have her the next week. Good." Eddie thought out loud. "I'm working overtime and than Allison has a doctor's appointment. And actually, I start today, so...I gotta go."

Maddy outstretched her arms and hugged Eddie tightly. He kissed her cheek and ruffled her hair and with a wave, he was jogging down the stairs. Maddy turned to Ryan and than hugged him tightly. "I missed you!" she grumbled into his shoulder. Ryan smiled and pat her back. "Missed you too princess," he whispered. She slipped out of Ryan's grasp and started to go into the kitchen, where voices were heard but stopped when Marissa came out first. "Maddy!" she exclaimed, an warm smile on her face. "Marissa," Maddy acknowledged.

"Is that my little Maddy?" Seth's voice rang from the kitchen. Maddy shrieked and ran into the kitchen, jumping on his lap. "Uncle Seth!" she screamed into his ear. "Maaaaddy!" he mocked. She giggled and than jumped into Summer's lap. "Aunt Summer!"Summer smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Hey sweetie." Maddy smiled and than jumped into Anna's lap. "Lady!"

Anna smiled and looked at the little girl in her lap. "Who are you?" Maddy asked.

"I'm Anna. You must be Maddy."

Maddy nodded and than looked at Anna's plate. "Do you want some?" Anna offered. Maddy shook her head. "No thank you. I had food before we left." And than she wriggled out of Anna's lap and into the living room. "You guys want coffee? Dessert?" Marissa offered. Anna, Seth and Summer nodded and went into the living room to join Maddy who was watching cartoons. Marissa started clearing the table as Ryan held back, watching her. She started over to the sink as Ryan crept up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Don't be mad," he whispered.

"I'm not."

"Yes you are. And it's okay."

"Ryan, I'm not mad," she countered. "I would be the same way if I was her. I wouldn't like the other woman."

Ryan spun her around as she fell onto his arms, only the porcelin plate in between them. "You're not the other woman, you're the only woman." Marissa smiled. "I'm okay with it. I can be patient. And I understand it'll take some time."

"And you're okay with it?" he asked. She nodded. "She's important to you...and you're important to me. And I do like her I really do, even if the feeling's not mutual." Ryan laughed. "And this is why I love you."

"Because I try so hard to make you happy?"

Ryan tilted his head to the side. He gave a smirk off and than spoke. "That too, but you look incredibly sexy washing the dishes." Marissa giggled and kissed him.

"Hey! Any chance of us getting that coffee before daylight savings?" Seth yelled from the living room. Ryan and Marissa pulled back. "Yeah, just a sec!"he exclaimed.

He kissed her one last time before going over to the coffee maker and getting started.

--

"Okay, well now that we know where you live..." Summer started off. "We'll be sure to come a lot more often," Seth finished. Ryan nodded as did Marissa and hugged them good bye as Anna stayed back. "Okay, well, it was nice seeing you Marissa and Ryan, I'll see you Monday. Tell Maddy I said good night."

Marissa gave her a quick hug as did Ryan and than she left. Ryan looked over to see a sly smile on Marissa's face as she headed for their bedroom, running on her tippy toes. Ryan followed, falling on top of her on the bed. She let out a muffled giggle as he started to kiss her and putting his hand up her shirt. "Ryan, we can't, Maddy's here," she smiled. "I know. My hand was just cold and your body is very warm," he joked. She let out another giggle and rolled on top of him, than finally getting off. He sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get his way as she walked into the bathroom, he changed into his grey sweatpants and wifebeater. Minutes later, a refreshed Marissa came out, wearing an extremly long t-shirt. "Please tell me you're not wearing something under that shirt," Ryan commented.

Sha laughed and lifted her shirt up, revealing shorts. Ryan let out a small groan as she hopped into bed, his back facing her. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into his arm, placing a chaste kiss on his tattoo that was showing. "Told you how much I love your tattoo?" she whispered huskily in his ear. Ryan immediately turned around and captured her lips in his own. "Yes, yes you have." Smiling brightly at him, she leaned in for another kiss.

Just as they were getting into it, a soft knock was heard on the door. Ryan let out a small sigh. "Come in." Maddy opened the door. "Daddy? I was having nightmares. Can I sleep with you?" He looked at Marissa. "Yeah, sure."

A smile appeared on her face as she sprinted onto the bed, jumping up and down a few times and than settled into the blankets. She looked over at Marissa, who was looking uncomfortable. "Are you gonna sleep here too?" she asked.

"Yes she is," Ryan answered. "Rremember, we're dating. And is going to be in our lives a lot more often. And tonight, she's gonna stay in this bed."

"Okay," sighed Maddy. She pulled the covers up to her neck and closed her eyes. Ryan smiled and kissed her forehead. "Night princess." Maddy didn't say anything, making them think she was actually asleep. He squeezed Marissa's hand as he lay down, on the far left, resting his head next to Maddy's small shoulder and reaching his arm so he could put it on Marissa's waist. She smiled and whispered, "I love you," softly. Maddy turned her body so she was snuggled up in a ball under Ryan's arm. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Go to sleep princess."

" 'am" she whispered. Marissa smiled, wondering if he'd be as loving as he was with Maddy to theie own child. She'd find out in a few days.

**A/N-** Okay, so I think I've left you a little hanging. And I'll try to post sooner. But I've started typing it already, even if it is two senteces. At least I know where I'm going with it. And if you're still reading, let me know what you think with a review.


	14. But Eventually, They Come Out

...**But Eventually, They Come Out**

**Disclaimer-** Aww well shave my head and call me Jane why don't ya? Sorry if that made no sense...it's who I am...with a disclaimer that The OC is not mine.

**A/N-** Yes, I've confused people once again. Hopefully my replies will help.

**welcometotheoc-** Is this update soon enough? Oh and good luck on your exams and have fun w/ your DVD!

**Sandy Smith-** yes, I know who you are bobbo

**TheOCIsMe-** Um...well, the reason Seth and Summer didn't know where they lived was because Ryan was moving...into the new apartment. Remember? And than Marissa is moving in with him. So that's why they didn't know. And than Anna got the secretary to tell her, and than she met Seth/Summer at the car rental place...and hopefully now you get it.

And now on with the chapter...

Ryan walked out of his locked office, only to be face to face with a perky blonde. "Anna?" What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"I thought we could all go out silly." She smiled as she touched his shoulder. "Oh? Um...out? Us?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, you, me, Marissa. Whoever wants to come! It's a party!" she exclaimed with a short giggle. Ryan hesitated. "Well...actually, I was planning on taking Marissa out for dinner--"

Anna blushed slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't want to--make....I think I'm just gonna go."

"Wait, wait." Ryan held her back. "Just...yeah, it's fine, the three of us can go out somewhere." Anna brightened up. "Really?" Ryan gave her a weak smile to show that it was all right.

--

"Marissa! I'm home!" Ryan called out as he entered the apartment, Anna following close behind. "Be out in one second!" she yelled back. She started to head towards the sound of his voice, puttingher dark red pumps on. "Ryan?" she said in a sing song voice, putting a hand on her hip and striking a pose. Ryan turned around; his jaw dropping at the sight of her. She was wearing a dark red halter dress, the topgiving off the illusion asthough she was even bustier, and the skirt with a slight flare to her ankles. Her hair had slight curls and some were put up, making her face seem almost as though she was a doll.

She spotted Anna and quickly recovered from her pose, crossing her arms. "Anna? What are you doing here?"

Anna stood up. "Marissa! Wow, you look great." Marissa blushed and looked at Ryan, who's eyes were still bulging. "Well, Ryan here invited me to go out with you guys."

Marissa now glared at Ryan. "Oh he did now did he? Ryan, can I talk to you for a sec, in private?" A small, fake smile was pasted on her face as Ryan followed her into the room. As soon as they were out of sight and safely into their bedroom, Marissa started speaking. "I thought you said you were taking me out to dinner?" she questioned, sitting down on the bed. "I did, I am..." Ryan replied

"Just with Anna?"

Ryan let out a huge sigh. "She just showed up at my office, what was I supposed to say? No you can't come to dinner with me and my beautiful girlfriend," he answered with a cheeky smile. Marissa gave him a slight smile. "I just wanted some alone time with you...that's all. My handsome boyfriend," she jokingly retorted.

"Do you want me to ask her to leave?" he asked.

Marissa sighed. "No, no. I guess not. It's just been so hectic lately, moving everything in and my new job, I just thought that tonight, we could unwind, just...relax." She explained.

"I'm sorry," Ryan apologized. "When we come back, I promise, I'm all yours." She laughed. "Good, you better be."

"I am," he whispered, inching his face closer to hers, gently brushing his lips against hers. "You look amazing," he complimented.

She thanked him and kissed back. "Too bad you won't be able to see it at dinner."

"You're changing?" he groaned. Marissa nodded and continued to kiss him as they lowered onto the bed. "Oh my god, Anna!" She whispered loudly, frantically getting up. "What about her?" he asked. Marissa have him a look. "Oh right. Damn, I forgot. Okay...well, I'll go keep her company while you change." "'kay, sounds good," she stated, dropping her pumps to the floor and slowly easing out of her dress. "Ryan, go!" Marissa demanded when she noticed Ryan wasn't moving. "Oh right," he mentally slapped himself, and tore his eyes away from her, going back into the living room to keep their guest company.

--

For the next several days, Anna had become a regular visitor to the apartment.

And Marissa wasn't happy.

It was never the right moment to tell Ryan the big news when someone was right there.

But tonight, she had him all to herself. She was making a romantic dinner for just the two of them.

No Anna.

Maddy was at Eddie's; so just the two of them. She started making a list of foods they liked, trying to remember all the fancy foods they had liked over the past several years. Suddenly, she felt a kiss on the side of her head and jerked back. "Hey," Ryan greeted warmly. She smiled at him as he sat down at the barstool next to hers, sipping his coffee. "Morning," she finally replied, settling her head on his shoulder. "Late night?" she asked. Ryan nodded, continuingly sipping his coffee. "You wouldn't believe how much controversery a dog would cause."

She laughed and lifted her head from his shoulder. Ryan looked at her. "Are you mad?" he asked. Marissa shook her head. "Mad that you're helping a friend? No. Mad that you're coming home at 2 o'clock in the morning? Yeah, just a little," she admitted. "I'm sorry," he apologized genuinely. "It's just...she really wants this divorce to be final, but they won't settle and it's starting to become difficult."

Marissa nodded understandably. "I know. I just miss you that's all."

"I miss you too." He put an arm around her shoulders, resting their heads against one another. "But hey, as of 5 o'clock, I'm all yours." She smiled. "Good. Now what kind of fancy foods do you like?" she asked. Ryan spit out his coffee and laughed. "Fancy foods? Me?" he asked.

"I don't get it, what's so funny?"

"Marissa...since when have I liked fancy foods? The only "fancy food" I know is briffilo."

"Briffilo?" she asked with a laugh.

"Exactly, I don't know fancy foods." "Okay, okay. Guess I'm on my own for the food?"

Ryan nodded his head and got up, taking one last sip of his coffee and kissing her head again. "But you're not on your own for tonight." "Glad to hear it," she replied, getting up and smoothing her dark blue skirt. "Tonight! Don't be late," she warned. He laughed and kissed her again, grabbing his briefcase. "I won't. Don't worry." With another brief kiss, they parted ways.

--

"Tonight?" Anna giggled.

Ryan raised his eyebrows and entered his apartment, searching for Marissa. He saw a note on the kitchen counter and scanned it quickly.

_Ryan,_

_Had to go to the gorcery store, I'll be back before 5_

_Love, Marissa_

Ryan smiled as Anna came up behind him, her shoulder against his. "Marissa not here?" she asked. He shook his head, gesturing towards the note. "Um...guess not. I'll just go get your file." He said as he put his briefcase down on the counter and started to head for his bedroom. Anna surveyed the apartment and after a few minutes, decided to go see what was keeping Ryan.

She walked in, to see papers sprawled over and Ryan looking at each of them tiredly. "Hey. Was starting to get lonely out there." She joked. A cheesy smile formed on Ryan's face as he motioned to the papers over the room. "Sorry, had to get all the papers sorted out. Kind of a mess."

Anna offered to help as Ryan picked up the papers and looked at her who had already settled down on his bed. "Don't you wanna go to the living room?"

Anna shook her head smugly. "This is fine, don't ya think?" Ryan gave her a suspicious look but put the papers down as Anna smiled and started to look around the room. She looked over to one end table, Ryan's most likely since it had a picture of him and Maddy and him and Marissa. "Cute," she commented. Ryan looked up and saw the pictures. "Uh...yeah, thanks." Anna smiled again and than moved over to Marissa's side, looking at her picture, just one, of her and Ryan, when they were younger. She sighed and made herself comfortable in the mess of papers.

A few minutes of Anna staring, Ryan was starting to get uncomfortable. "Do you...want something?"

Anna smiled and leaned in slightly. "I want this divorce to be over." Ryan laughed and continued to rifle through the papers. "So do I."

"Why?" she asked intersted. Ryan looked up, a few papers in his hands. "Um...so I can finish this case?" He was starting to get uncomfortable and sat on his butt. "You know Ryan" Anna continued, "I've always had a minor crush on you." Ryan blushed and sat up. Anna sat him down, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sorta. Sorry, it was just sorta unexpected."

"Well, it's the truth. I mean...I don't know, just a little innocent high school crush, right? Every one has those." She stated. Ryan nodded understandably. "Right, right," he said quietly. "I mean..." Anna continued, leaning in farther and farther so she was right next to Ryan, "I'm about to have an ex husband."

"I have Marissa," Ryan cut in.

"She's just your girlfriend."

"Yeah, she_ is _my girlfriend."

"Ryan, come on," Anna breathed. "It's not like you haven't done it before."

"Done what," he asked, obviously confused. "You know...cheat."

His eyes bulged. "How do you know about that?"

"Ryan, please, this was a scandal. Everyone knows about these. And besides, Seth and Summer told me." Ryan's face dropped as Anna leaned in even more. Ryan leaned in as well...

**A/N-**Yep, nope, it's not cut off there, it's SUPPOSED to be like that. I've left you hanging. Yet again. But see? Now I'm back in the groove, and obviously back in the 70's judging by my slang, and will post sooner.


	15. And Sometimes It's for the Better

**And Sometimes It's For The Better**

**Disclaimer-** It ain't mine foo'!

**A/N-** Hey cool cats, I'm back, and am a posting machine! That's right, another post. And longer than the last one. At least I think so. Anyways, see, this is fiction, and since Anna was always a do gooder, like broke up with Seth so he could reunite Summer...she has to havesome faults, and I gave her one. And the threats are really appreciated, lol. No, it's okay, I don't mind, as long as you don't go through with them. But I've had this storyline planned out for a while now and and here it is...

**ocRM4eva-** Ryan was trying to settle...and it was becoming a hard case to settle so he had to do some from home. Yeah...I'm not a lawyer so I think that's a good enough reason.

**And now here it is...**

...his lips near her ear. "I have a girlfriend," he repeated. "Who I love."

Anna sighed and leaned back when she knew she wasn't getting her way. "Always gotta do the right thing don't ya Atwood?"

He shook his head. "I do what I wanna do. And this time, I know it was the right thing." He paused for a few seconds before gethering her papers and going out into the living room. "Anna, I think it's best if you leave. And I hate to say this, at least so far in the case, but I'm giving your case to someone else." Anna nodded solemenly. "I understand. Sorry Ryan, just got caught up in the moment."

Ryan shrugged and opened the door for her as she whispered a quick bye and than left. He sighed and started to loosen his tie up, debating weather to tell Marissa or not.

--

Marissa laughed quietly to herself as she stroked Ryan's hair. "Sleepy head, wake up," she sang to him. Ryan stirred but eventually woke up to the smooth hands touching him. "Hey..." he greeted sleepily. "What are you doing sleeping?" Marissa asked, also laying on the bed. "Uh...sorry," he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "I forgot...the dinner. Sorry."

"It's okay," she assured. "Are you tired? Long day at the office?" Ryan tilted his head, snaking his hand into hers. "Yeah, you _could_ say that."

"Anna here today?" She finally asked the question she had meaning to. Ryan diverted his eyes as he pretended to be intersted in the decor of the room. "Yeah...actually, she was."

"Oh. Is she coming back?"

Ryan's eyebrows rose as he looked at her. "Why would she come back?"

"Well I'm sure there's another dinner she'd like to ruin," she snapped. He sighed and leaned on his elbow to face her. "I know...these last few weeks have been...not fun. But actually, I gave her case to someone else." Marissa immediately shot up, shocked. "What? Why?" Ryan laughed to himself and laid her on the bed again. "Promise you won't get mad?"

Marissa eyed him suspiciously. "Why? What happened?"

"Promise?" he asked again. She sighed. "All right, all right, I promise." "She tried to kiss me."

_Wow, that sounded like we were back in high school all over again_, he thought. Marissa raised her head from his chest. "She tried to?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, nothing happened. I don't think you'll have anymore ruined dinners."

She sighed. "That's why you did it?" Ryan shook his head. "I didn't do it just for that...I think I was making this case a little too personal. She's just an old friend who I was trying to help." "I know that and I understand. I don't want you to go and give up clients just because of me."

"Don't worry, I'm not doing it just because of you. I just--really don't want a repeat of my past and she is. I don't mind really. And besides, think of how uncomfortable it would be if I did agree to do it."

She smiled up at him, "Yeah, I guess you're right." She leaned in for a kiss, twisting her body so she could get better access to his lips. "Besides, it's not like I can blame her for wanting to kiss you-- you're very kissable," she murmured into his lips. He smiled and made a mmhmm, and put his arms tighter around her waist, pulling her in closer to himself.

--

"YOU CAN"T MAKE ME!"

"Wait! Just wait..." the voice whimpered, grabbing her purse and storming out of the small cabin.

Ryan sighed as he switched the channel. "Hey!" Marissa protested. "I was starting to like that movie." "Marissa," he sighed, "the whole movie consisted of yelling and horrible mother/daughter relationships." He explained.

A cheesy smile appeared on her face as she shrugged and made her head more comfortable on his chest. "I can relate," she half joked, half being serious. "Your Mom still the same way?" he asked.

Marissa nodded. "Yep. I have to see her in a few days," she groaned, "and you're coming with me." Ryan shook his head as he looked down at her. "No way. I haven't seen in your Mom in forever--"

"Neither have I." Her eyes were starting to brim with tears. "I wasn't invited to her wedding, with Richard" she explained sadly. "Neither was I," he told her.

"I'm her daughter Ryan, _her daughter_. I guess I never expected her to _not_ to invite him. She just said that I wouldn't wanna be there to because I had to "work to make a life." She sighed. "Whatever."

Ryan rubbed her back soothingly as he was laying under her. They were seated on the couch; watching a movie after their dinner, lying on each other. "You know..." he started out, "the divorce is final on Tuesday." Marissa's hopeful eyes looked at him. "Really? That fast?" He laughed. "Well, Marissa, I am a lawyer, I have connections." She laughed at him, patting his chest. "Are you glad?"

"That I'm getting divorced?" She nodded. "I am. Than I won't feel as guilty," she whispered quietly into his shirt.

"You're guilty? For what?"

"Ryan, I think I can be accountable for this divorce. If I hadn't slept with you..."

"Than I'd be living a lie!" Ryan retorted softly. "I agree...what we did wouldn't make us people of the year...but I love you...and that's what matters." His roaming hand finally rested on the small of her back, rubbing it soothingly. "I think that you have no reason to feel guilty. In fact, I should if anyone is feeling guilty." Marissa lifted her head and glared at him, almost in a playful way. "If I did. But I don't. You know I hate dwelling on the past...it's not something I'm proud of." He explained.

"Neither am I. But..." she let out a small smile, lifting the champagne flute off of the wood stained coffee table. She grabbed Ryan's as well and handed it to him. "To us?" Ryan suggested.

"To our future..." she grinned. "To our future..." Ryan repeated. He took a quick sip, Marissa lifting it up to her lips, but not taking a sip; putting the flutes back on the table. Ryan's hand roamed down her pajamas, ending at the elastic waistband and playing with it.

"Doctor? There is an emergency! Room 322 is about to go into labor!" the nurse's voice on the T.V. sounded as Ryan watched on, interested. Marissa looked up at him, trying to get any type of reaction. "Babies huh?" she asked, gesturing towards the T.V. "Uh...yeah, if it lives," Ryan explained, "this stupid doctor needs to get his ass to deliver the baby though." She laughed. "No.." she turned off the T.V. and continued, "I meant babies in general."

"Oh...well, yeah, I have raised one, they're not so bad."

"What would you say to raising another one?" she asked cheekily. Ryan shrugged. "I do--" His eyes bulged out of his sockets. "What are...what are you saying?"

Marissa took a deep breath. "I'm having a baby. _Our_ baby." She whispered. She leaped into his arms, snuggling up against his head. "Oh god." He blinked, "When did you find out?" he asked. "Not too long ago," she answered. "You're pregnant," he stated as he laid back down, Marissa following suit. "I am," she repeated. "This is...a good thing? Right?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because...we've only been together for a few months, you have a child, and you're in the middle of a divorce."

"We've known each other since we were 16, I _do _have a child...and my divorce is finishing up..." Ryan reworded, "and now...you're having a baby."

"So you're happy?" she asked. "Aren't you?" he asked. Marissa nodded, wiping her joyful tears from her eyes. "I am...I just...didn't expect this reaction."

"What reaction?"

"Just the kind...just this kind. Happy."

"You want me to be sad?" grinned Ryan.

"Not sad...I don't know...but this is too perfect," she smiled, kissing him hard on the lips. Ryan kissed back. "This is a good thing? Us having a baby together?"

"I couldn't think of anything more perfect," he murmed in the kiss. Marissa pulled back, her eyes wide. "Maddy..." she said quietly. Ryan's eyes drooped as his hands flew to Marissa's still flat belly. "She doesn't have to know right away, does she?"

"Ryan!" Marissa exclaimed, outraged. "I'll be showing. That's horrible to do to her!"

"Marissa! She has Eddie and Theresa's genes...who knows what she'll do if she finds out!"

"Look...you have her on Sunday? Right? Today is Friday. You have plenty of time to think of a speech."

Ryan sighed, but nodded. "But you know...I can help...if you want," she tried to stifle a giggle, getting up from the couch. He grinned brightly at her, taking her hand in his as they ran to their bedroom, screaming and laughing the entire way. Marissa already had half of her clothes stripped down, Ryan soon following suit, but having some trouble with his wifebeater, cursing at it slowly under his breath. "Ryan, calm down," Marissa warned, helping him take off the material. "Right, sorry." He smiled and took her by the waist, swiflty sneaking under the covers as the door quickly shut and the only sounds that could be heard were muffled giggles and groans, along with the quiet humming of a few electronics that were throughout the apartment.

**A/N-** See? Now it's a happy chapter! And no, I'd kill Anna if she kissed Ryan. Bitch would get an ass whooping! Anyways, if you have any idea or suggestions, let me know, especially about Maddy's reaction. And I have the whole baby situation situated so sit tight, and review, as always, please.


	16. The Princess Jinx

**The Princess Jinx**

**Disclaimer-** Eh bullcrap.

**A/N-**Okay, so we got a little more coming up in this chapter, a little more of Marissa's "past" shall we say. And thanks to Rosey for the help on one of the ideas :)

**juzadream-** You're right, this isn't exactly "angsty" I was planning on taking another direction, but after some time, which resulted in me not updating in such a long time, I've decided not to go into that direction and instead take a new lead. I hope you enjoy it anyways.

....Here it is...

Maddy looked out the car window, perching herself up a little higher as she played with the window controls. She looked over at Marissa, who was in the drivers seat, her eyes flamed with anger at the car in front of her. Maddy looked at her hands as they hovered over the horn, ready to hit it at any moment. "Damn bastard," Marissa whispered under her breath.

"Ahh," Maddy giggled, "you said a bad word." She continued giggling, playing with the bottom of her shoes. Marissa looked helplessly at the little girl. "Let's not tell Daddy, okay?"

All Maddy could do was continue letting out sweet little giggles. Finally bored with her shoes, she started to play with her dark curls, twisting them in her thumbs and alternating it with her pinky. "Where are we going?" She tapped Marissa's shoulder lightly. "We're going to my Mom's house."

"Why?"

"Because she really wants to meet you," Marissa squeezed the little girl's shoulder excitedly.

"Why?"

"Because she does."

"But why?"

Marissa sighed and stopped momentarily at the stop sign. _Where the hell are you Ryan?_ she thought. He was supposed to come with her to Julie's, and Maddy was his for today, but instead, he called, saying he was caught up at work. And now Maddy was staring at her. "Sweetie." She squeezed her shoulder again, trying to make eye contact again. "I love your Daddy, you know that right?"

Maddy kept her head down and gave a simple shrug. "I do. Very much."

Her chocolate brown eyes looked up at her blue gray ones. "How much?" she asked weakly. Marissa laughed lightly. "A lot." Maddy sighed and continued to look out the window again. "I wish my Daddy was here," she whispered. Marissa looked over at her sadly, "So..." she decided to start up a conversation. "You excited about Eddie and Allison's baby?"

Maddy shook her head. "Babies smell, and they poop."

"Yeah, but so do grown ups. And you do too."

"I smell?" she looked at Marissa suspiciously. Marissa shook her head nervously. "No, no, of course not sweetie. You smell very pretty." "That's because I'm around you." She tried to come up with an angry reply but it ended up sounding sweet. _Darn it_, her little six year old mind thought.

She was going to try and make up a witty comment but Marissa pulled up to a house quickly and got out. "Wow," Maddy admired the Victorian house with its big white columns and pretty flowers slowly blooming out of their buds. "'s so pretty," she said dreamily as Marissa helped her out of the car. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

She took her hand, leading her inside the big house. "Mom! We're here!" She called out in the house as Julie appeared at the top of stairs, wearing a silk robe. She looked like Hugh Hefner. Except in woman form. She smiled brightly at her daughter and started to descend down the stairs, hugging Marissa tightly. "Oh sweetie how are you!?" She exclaimed cheerfully. Marissa raised suspicious eyebrows and looked expectantly at her Mother. "I'm good." Julie smiled and looked at the little girl Marissa had by her side. "And who is this?"

"I'm Maddy," she smiled shyly. Julie returned the shy smile and embraced Maddy. "Nice to meet you." "Mom, this is Ryan and Theresa's daughter," Marissa explained quietly. "Nu uh," Maddy shook her head. "Theresa and Eddie."

Julie's eyes fuzzed up and she stared at her daughter, oblivious. "I'll explain later," Marissa explained as she took Maddy's hand. "Maddy? Do you wanna see the rest of the house?"she asked. Maddy shrugged. "Sure."

Marissa looked at her Mother, asking if it was okay. Julie nodded as they started walking off.

--

"So this is nice." The dark haired woman pointed out, fingering the blank walls. "Could use some touching up," he retorted. "Well than I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time together." The young woman grinned.

--

"So?" Julie started, taking a sip of her coffee. "You had big news you wanted to tell me?" Marissa shrugged. "Well, um, I'm back in town."

"I can see that." She adjusted the lace doily on the coffee table, looking at her daughter. "No, I mean," she sighed, "Permanently." Julie was surprised. She never thought Marissa would be back, she hated this place. "Do you need anywhere to stay?" she politely asked, knowing how much Richard would hate it if her daughter stayed with them. Marissa smiled quickly. "Uh, no, thanks, I'm actually..." she took a quick breath, "I'm actually living with Ryan now."

"Living?!" Julie exclaimed hysterically. Marissa nodded. "Yeah, for a few months now." "Few months?" She scoffed. "I thought you just came back for work."

Marissa smiled. "I did...I'm just staying here now. With Ryan. Permanently." Julie shook her head. "Mariss, I don't want you so serious right away," she reached her hand out and took Marissa's, "After...y ou know, everything that's happened, it's too soon." Marissa's hand slipped out of Julie's. "Mom, I've loved him since...forever, what happened won't change anything, especially what happened in the past. It was all a mistake."

"Which part?" asked Julie coldly. "All of it," she said softly. "So than having the abortion was a mistake?" she shot back. Marissa's lip quivered and tears started to burn her eyelids. "Please don't bring that up." "Why not? Haven't told Ryan yet?" Julie started pacing, running her hands over neck soothingly. "I do not want you to get attached, take things slow...he just went through a divorce, and I know what that's like...you've got to give it time."

"Well doesn't look like that's happening. We're having a baby."

Julie's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "You're what?!" Marissa nodded. "When did this happen?" "Uh..." she looked around the room nervously. "Well, I don't know exactly, but sometime about a month ago."

"Ohmygod," Julie's hands flew to her mouth. "You've been having sex with him." Marissa rolled her eyes making sure her Mother didn't notice. "Yes Mom, Ryan and I have had sex, resulting in my pregnancy." "Sweetie," Julie was frustrated, resulting making her voice extra sweet. "It's too soon. You're not even married," she added distastefully. "Mom," Marissa whined. "Marissa, you're acting like a child! You're having a child--"

"I'm having a child! I'm _not_ a child!" Marissa's hands pat her own knees nervously, tapping her fingers against the fine material of the burgandy skirt. "I didn't come here to ask for your blessing, I just thought you would want to know." "Of course I want to know what's going on in your life," Julie said nicely. "But I'm just saying it's a little too soon. You just got back together, and you're having a baby, while he just finished his divorce and is taking care of a child that's not even his!" she didn't take a breath until the end. "And especially with the baby, it's unsafe especially after your abortion."

"You know what? I don't care. I don't care about my abortion that I had two years ago, all I care is about my future, mine and Ryan's future, which _will _include this baby. Bye Mom." She got up and flipped her hair, opening the sliding doors and found Maddy perched on one of the stools. Quickly grabbing the little girl's hand, she turned on her heels and looked coldly at her Mother. "I appreciated what you did for me 2 years ago, I was just hoping you would be as supportive now." Julie shrugged. "I'm just looking out for you, and my decision won't change." "Too bad, you almost made up for ruining my life." She grabbed Maddy's hand tighter and walked out to the car. "Who ruined your life?" she asked. Marissa looked sharply at her. "No one sweetie."

"Are you having a baby?" she asked quickly, not looking at her. "Where did you hear that?" "When you were talking to the lady, I heard you." Marissa closed her eyes and rested back in the comfy seat. She wanted Ryan to be there when they told her the news. _Damn you Ryan! _"Yeah, sweetie, your Daddy and I are having a baby."

"Which Daddy?" she questioned. Marissa's eyebrows raised as she stared at the little girl. "Ryan Daddy." She clarified. "How do you feel about that?"

Maddy shrugged. "I don't know. I wanna go home." She hugged herself with her small arms and put the buckle around her. Marissa sighed and nodded, starting the ignition and backing out of the driveway.

--

They all picked at their brussel sprouts lamely. Maddy stared at the two adults before her. "I don't like these, can I leave?"

"Where are you gonna go?" Ryan asked. "My favorite TV show is on, I wanna go watch." She kept her head down, continuing to stab her fork in the brussel sprouts. Ryan looked briefly at Marissa. "Sure, go ahead." Maddy's brown curls bounced up and down as she hopped off her chair. Ryan rolled his eyes as Marissa got up from her chair and started clearing the table. Ryan came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, hands resting on her still flat belly. "Sometimes...I think it'd be easier if she was a boy," his husky voice suggested. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, her back still to his front. "Girls are easier to buy," she teased. "That's true," he said in all seriousness, craning his neck to kiss her cheek. "But than we wouldn't have any money for this little one," he pointed out, rubbing his hands against her belly. "So you're happy about this?"

Ryan looked weirdly at her. "Of course I am, I told you that." He ran his hands over her sides. "Why? What did your Mom say?" She let out a small laugh. "How did you know?"

"I had a feeling," he teased. "It wasn't anything big, don't worry." "I always worry about you," he said sweetly. She smiled and turned around, kissing him full on the lips. "I'm a big girl, you don't have to worry about me." "How can I not? You're my girlfriend." He mumbled in her lips. "And the mother of your unborn child," she jokingly added while clenching his bottom lip with her teeth. Ryan laughed and pressed himself into her harder, a hand going up her shirt in the meantime. Her lips left his shortly and kissed across his jaw, attacking his neck, her leg going up and wrapping slightly across his hip. He bit his lips to keep in check as Marissa giggled into his neck. "What?" he asked innocently. She smiled and shook her head, "Nothing, just...everything's turned out so good...it's almost unbelievable." "Hey now, knowing our luck, don't jinx it," he joked, squeezing his arms around her.

"Are we having dessert? I want ch--" Maddy stopped in her sentence and stared at her father distastefully. Ryan untangled his limbs from Marissa and stared at Maddy. "Yeah.What kind do you want?" he asked hurriedly.

"Pie!"

Marissa smirked and let her hands go from Ryan's shoulder blades as she walked back to the sink. "Okay, anything besides pie?" Ryan asked, picking her up. "Um...Go-gurt!" Marissa laughed and turned around. "We don't have that either." "What do we have?" "We have ice cream."

Maddy licked her lips, grinning brightly, showing all her baby teeth. "Okay, chocolate, I hate vanilla!" "Hey!" Ryan tickled her in the armpit, blowing a raspberry on her right arm, "_I_ like vanilla." Marissa smiled to herself as Ryan sat down in one of the chairs, Maddy sitting in his lap as they continued to "argue".

After a few minutes, she came holding 3 bowls each filled with a certain type of ice cream. "You better be glad you got Napoleon," she whispered in his ear as she handed his bowl over. "I am," he teased, releasing Maddy out of his lap. They all started digging in, especially Marissa, who was the first one done. She got up to put her bowl away, nearing the sink when she heard it.

"Daddy? What's an ab-o-rtion?"

The bowl clattered it's way into the sink, fortunately without breaking. Marissa suddenly felt weak and put her hands dramatically over her forehead, leaning on the counter for support. "Mariss'? You okay?" Ryan asked worriedly, getting up and over to Marissa, resting his hands on her shoulder. "Yeah," she gulped, "Just fine." "You sure?" he asked, not convinced at all. Marissa nodded. "Yeah, I'm just...uh..." She blinked her eyes to keep the tears back, pointing towards their bedroom. Ryan kept his hand on her back for support and hesitantly nodded. "Is it 'cuz of your abortion?" Maddy asked, also showing a concern for her father's girlfriend. "What!" Ryan shouted.

He looked suspiciously between Marissa and Maddy. "Mads, what are you talking about?" he crouched down to her level, taking her tiny hands in his own. "Today, at the house, with the red lady, I heard the red lady saying Marissa had an ab-o-rtion."

Surprised, Ryan looked up at Marissa, seeing tears well up in her. He knew that what the six year old said wasn't a lie. "So what is it?" she asked, nudging Ryan with her pinky. He lifted himself up and continued staring at Marissa. "Maddy, go sleep, I"ll be there in a second to tuck you in."

"But you never--"

"Now." Ryan said sharply and firmly, scaring the girl. She pouted and stomped off angrily to her room. "You had an abortion?" he asked sadly, disappointment on each word. She put her face in her hands, letting out small, choked sobs. "With our baby?" His heart was heavy and his feet barely took him the few feet between them. "What?! No!" She exclaimed outraged. "It...it was a while ago."

Ryan sighed and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "When?"

"It was 2 years ago," she continued sniffling. "I was just...everything was so messed up and I never thought I would see you again," he embraced her tightly as she cried on his shoulder. "I didn't think I'd see you again," she repeated, "And at the time, I was seeing someone..." She sniffled. "Mariss', shh," he soothed, "It's ok."

"--and I just felt it was the best thing to do. My Mom was there--"

"Julie?" Ryan interfered. "I thought you didn't even go to her wedding?"

"I didn't because at the time I was pregnant. I didn't want anyone to see me, I hadn't made my choice yet." "How far along were you?" He felt like a stranger in her past life, or the past few years. As many talks they have had over the past few months, she had never told him this.

"Just a month, my Mom came up there to...you know," she smiled weakly. Ryan nodded sympathetically and wiped his own small tears. "I just felt so..."

"Shh, it's okay. I love you."

"--there's a possibility that this baby might not even live, or _I _might even live." She explained, a sour look playing on her face.

"What?"

"There was some difficulty with the..." she couldn't say it. "And if I got pregnant again, it wasn't going to be a very safe pregnancy." "So you're saying--?"

"This is a riskful pregnancy." Ryan sighed sadly, frowning as he continued to wipe more tears away for both of them. "I don't wanna lose you." Her nose started to sting from the tears as they ran uncontrollably down her plump cheeks. Her tear stricken face pressed up against his and let her lips brush against his briefly. "You won't."

"You can't promise me that." He deadpanned.

"Please. I love you so much, our life has always been full of risks--"

"Not like this!" he cut in. "Ryan, please, _please_, I can't, I'm already attached," she put her hands over her belly, Ryan following after her lead. "I can't promise anything, or that you'll end up with both of us coming out...ok, but..."

"What am I gonna do if I lose you, huh?" his voice quavered. "You won't, ok?" Her broken voice shattered his heart to pieces as he cupped her cheeks, kissing her forehead. "Promise me that--"

"I can't promise you anything." She smiled weakly at him, her tears clouding her vision. Shaking her head sadly, he hoisted her up from the wood paneling floor and into his arms, taking her into their bedroom. He kissed her matted head and lay down next to her, snuggling up under her thin frame. "The only thing I can promise you..."

Ryan looked up hopefully.

"Is that I'll love you...always."

He smiled and brought her in closer. "Good."

How had such a happy occasion turned into a bad one? Than into a semi-sweet one?

This was the life of Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper.

**A/N- **This was one of the "original" plotlines, and I'm continuing with it, just changing a few things around. And it was extra long, at least it looks like it, so I hope you enjoyed it.


	17. Broken Twice

**Broken Twice**

**Disclaimer- **Not mine, or anyone else I mention.

**A/N- **This chapter will start off with a flashback, sort of inside Marissa's head. But no, the baby that was aborted was not Ryan's, it was the guy that it "didn't work out" with in the first chapter, if you recall. Flashback is just to show that Marissa is ok with moving on. I hope you all enjoy!

**Brsoccerchic89-Aww, thank you soooo much! I appreciate it! I always look forward to your reviews :D**

**Bobbo- Yeah, switched it to PG-13 since the drama-ish level was toned down. **

**EVERYONE ELSE-Ahh, how amazing are you guys? As much as I am an ass for not updating. I'll try to over the upcoming break as much as I can, but not promising anything.**

_Her hands immediately flew over the edges of the silver frame and she put it face down on the oak night table. "We don't...don't have to," the man whispered, stopping with her zipper. "I know, I want..." she gulped, running her hands over his closed, brown eyes"I want to, ok?" she smiled weakly at him, trying to prove her hardest that she was fine with it. "We-"_

_She calmed him down with a smooth finger over his soft red lips. "I know, I'm perfectly fine." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her lips softly as he tried to get the silk material off of her body. "You'll never be fine Riss, but I guess you're just more appealing that way," he grinned. Happy to recieve a grin return, he continued to let his fingers work the magic on getting her dress off._

Ryan walked into the apartment, dragging some of Maddy's belongings behind him as he called Marissa's name out.

"In here," she responded. Ryan eyed the three rooms; their bedroom, Maddy's bedroom, or bathroom. "Bathroom," she added after a beat when he wasn't responding. He smiled and set down the pink Hello Kitty suitcases in the living room, making his way to the bathroom. He knocked on the door to signal he was coming in. "You decent?"

"No," she smiled inside the tub "come in." Ryan walked right in, to be met with a sight of Marissa taking a bath, bubbles covering every inch up to her jaw. "Having fun?" he joked, closing the door as he walked further into the white tiled bathroom. "Tons," she teased, signaling him to come closer with a wagging finger. Ryan kneeled down beside the porcelin tub, raising his eyebrows in the meantime. "How was your day?" she asked, lifting herself up slightly with her heels. "Uneventful." She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. "Yours?"

"Same," she agreed, finally lifting her hands from her sides and wrapping them around the back of his head and kissing him quickly. "You wanna join?" She motioned to the tub with her eyes. Ryan looked down at what he was wearing; jeans, t-shirt and socks. "No thanks, I'm good. Besides, not really a bath person."

"Figured," she admitted, settling back in the tub as Ryan sat on the edge. "I can..." he stuttered "...help...if you need it or anything." Marissa smirked, holding up a bar of soap. "I'm perfectly fine washing myself." "I know, I know," he continued to jump around with words "...just if you...want or anything...I mean, baby...and all..."

"Being pregnant limits your activites, doesn't disable you completly," she smiled, watching his facial expressions change.

Ryan saw her hands move around inside the tub; to her stomach and smiled, sticking his hand inside the warm water and connecting directly with her stomach. She sighed with relief inside, finally happy to see him touch her again. Ever since the abortion reveal, affection was limited to...

None.

Quite frankly, Marissa was starting to get worried. She was starting to feel rejected. And that's the last thing a pregnant woman wants to feel. As she continued to dream on, she noticed Ryan's hand going farther and farther up her stomach, finally stopping on the side of her left breast as he lathered water on it. Marissa looked up at him, he didn't seem to be thinking, just concentrating on the white hand towel that stood a few feet from his face. A cough from Marissa brought him out of his daydream. His hand quickly snapped out of the water once he realized what he was doing.

He resonded to Marissa's sour faced by muttering "I'm sorry, mistake."

Marissa immediately drew her knees up to her chest and stood slightly, the foamy bubbles still covering her. "It's not a mistake..." she whispered "it's anything but a mistake. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to..." Her hands wrapped around his neck, her bare body against his clothed one. "I'm sorry I haven't-" he apolgized, looking away. "No you're not...you're disguisted with me...and what I did to that baby..."

Ryan turned to face her. "That's not..."

"Not true? At least have the decency not to lie to me. Because I sure as hell know it's true. Because if you weren't so outraged with the thought, and you _did _love me, when were 17, you would've told Theresa to have one, right?"

He didn't answer.

"And the only reason I had it was because...I wasn't ready, and I wasn't willing to give up the baby that I had become so accustomed to for nine months to someone else so they could completely forget who I was."

"Are you done?" he interupted.

"No" she snapped "not done. You're disguisted with the fact that I had sex with another man, unprotected sex for that matter. But you know what, you don't have to worry, when he found out what I did, he was disguisted just like you and he dumped me. We were dating for about...six months I guess and when he found out, he couldn't live with it, so he left. Kinda like you."

Ryan glared at her. She was safely back in the tub now. "And when he left, I got caught up in work, and I got promoted and Newport just had to be my location...so here I am. About to have _your _baby."

Ryan continued to stare disbelievingly. "Now I'm done," she paused, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Good," he leaned his body forawrd to pick her up by the shoulders and have her rest her foam covered body against his. "You don't know how hard it was" she whispered. "I know" he whispered back, stroking her wet hair. "Or at least trying to understand..."

"You weren't even there...maybe talk me out of it or..."

He pulled back, his hands holding her cheeks. "Do you regret it..." he started to ask slowly. "I killed a baby Ryan, do you think I regret it" She stumbled into his lap in a strange position, her thighs next to his knees. "I want you to help me feel better, please..."

"Anything," he choked out, now cradling her in his arms. Her hands reached to the hem of his gray t-shirt, starting to take it off. "Join me than..." Her voice was down to a hoarse whisper as she slid back gracefully in the tub. He started to protest by waving a hand but Marissa drew him in by his collar. "For me, please." Without letting him respond, she put his lips against his tightly making him squirm as he got closer and closer to getting inside the foamy water. "I don't want to hurt you," he let out, now kissing her neck, his palms making their way around her upper torso. "Than do this with me", she smiled, finding his lips again and succeding in having his t-shirt up to his neck.

A loud groan escaped both of them as the doorbell was heard. "Don't get it," she pleaded. She saw the disappointed look on his face. "I have to, if it's Maddy..."

Marissa rolled herself back in the tub. "I-I'll be back, I promise, just..." He positioned himself upright and started out the bathroom door. "Wait...please."

"Damn it!" he whispered as he went to get the door "who the hell is it." He opened it and called out a 'coming' as he opened the door to reveal Sandy and Kirsten, and a pair of brunettes behind them. Kirsten smiled and motioned for him to come over and give her a hug. He did so, also giving Sandy a hug as he led them in, Seth following and Summer trailing behind the rest of the group. "Nice place," Sandy commented as he eyed the furniture, poking his head quickly in the kitchen. "Yeah, um-thanks, but kind of a surprise to have guests, didn't have the chance to clean up," he motioned to the towel that was lying on the sofa and a pair of Marissa's shoes in the middle of the floor. Sandy raised his eyebrows suspiciously, taking Seth by the shoulders, whispering "where's Marissa?"

"Uh, she's not feeling well, so she's freshning up quickly." Ryan cut in.

"What's wrong?" Kirsten cut in, a look of worry on her aging face. "Just-you know, women troubles," he explained uncomfortably, looking towards the bathroom.

None of the people before him knew about the baby. "I'll go get her, just sit down I guess."

"Go." Kirsten commaded softly.

Ryan nodded and quickly hurried to the bathroom. "Guessing by the manly voices, that wasn't Maddy?" she asked coldly, already out of the tub and in her pink bathrobe. "No, Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer-if I would've known..."

"It's fine," she lied, wrapping the robe around her tighter. "I'm so sorry for everything," he came over to her, taking her hand. "We'll talk later, I promise, tonight, whatever you want."

"I know, I know." Marissa rolled her eyes, shrugging him off and going out of the bathroom to go get changed entertain their guests.

-

She shifted the pale green flowered comforter to the foot of the bed when she was suddenly pushed forward and hovered over.

Ryan.

"Ryan, I don't wanna talk to you right now, so lets just sleep."

"I'm not getting off of you until we talk. We can't ignore it." Marissa budged slightly, trying to get Ryan's hands off the bed which were trapped around her. "If I remember correctly, we weren't doing much..." she smirked slightly, looking towards the closed door, "much talking." "Than lets keep going with that pattern," he grinned, bending down and kissing her. Immediately, her body released and his arms started to go weak. "I missed-"

"Me too."

Ryan was careful as he took off her shirt, exposing her still semi-flat belly and set her down back on the bed. He gulped, finally glad to have her back. And for the first time in a while, they were intamite.

-

His jacket slipped off and slid into her hands. "So anything I can do to get you more comfortable?" the brunette grinned. "No, let's just get this done," he growled, closing the bedroom door.

-

"I haven't thought about it," Ryan stroked his chin as he turned his face to the right, making eye contact with Marissa. She laughed and looked back at the TV. "Well this is why we should watch it, to get ideas." "Bob Villa is not my idea of home remodeling," Ryan confessed "more of Ryan Atwood remodeling." Marissa laughed again, puting her hands over her 2 month belly. "I guess we've got time to think about colors," she admitted, turning the TV off. "Yes we do," Ryan agreed "but Ireally can't wait for 7 months, see you at your worst."

He was shoved by Marissa and captured her hands in his own, feeling the feminine softness. He looked at her ring finger. Someday he'd put a ring on it, but for now, they were perfectly happy the way they were. "So at brunch will we tell them?" Marissa questioned anxiously, gripping Ryan's fingers around her tighter. "If you want to, sure."

"Of course I want to," Marissa gave him a look of confusion. "You...? Don't want to."

"Of course I-its not that, its just I guess after seeing their reaction with the two of us being together, and than hearing we want to have a baby."

"_Are_ having." Marissa corrected. "That we're having-who knows what they'll think."

"And here I thought your parents were supposed to be the easy ones to persuade" she sighed, resting her head on his chest. Ryan laughed, turning the TV back on and commenting on the home improvement channel. "What about when the baby comes-are we using Maddy's room or are..."

"Don't worry about that," Ryan comforted, kissing her temple "I"ll take care of it, you just sit here and have hormones." Marissa laughed and continued watching, daydreaming about the new baby's room.

-

Hard pounding was heard coming from outside and Ryan just assumed it was the rain that was taking its usual season course. But this one came with wails and sobs. He looked for Marissa and found her in his arms, sleepfully peacefully. He strained his eyes to look at the clock and saw that it was 2:30 in the morning. Who could be up at this hour?

He quietly let Marissa out of his arms, slid a pair of sweats on and jogged to the continuing sobbing. A look of worry washed his face as he opened the door to reveal a soasked Maddy crying hysterically and Theresa with her head in her hands on the stairs. "What..." he picked up the wailing Maddy in his arms, cradling her to stop crying. "What's going on?" he asked quietly to Theresa who had gotten up from the stairs. "She just-just started screaming and she wanted to come over here the moment she heard so I just drove."

"All the way from LA? Must be pretty important."

"I don't wanna move! Tell Momma that I don't want to! Tell her Daddy!" Maddy screamed.

"Moving," Ryan looked up from Maddy, who was still in his arms, to Theresa, who was sitting on the brown leather chair. "Moving where?" "Atanta!" Maddy screamed. "Ryan what's wrong, I heard screaming and thought something happened to-" Marissa came out, tying her robe and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Maddy! Theresa" She looked at Ryan. "Ryan! What's going on?"

Ryan looked to Theresa. "Ask her."

"I'm..." she stopped and pointed to Maddy "we're moving...to Atlanta."

"What!" Ryan and Marissa yelled out simulatenously.

"And I don't wanna!" Maddy cried.

-

"So you're ok with this" Ryan asked, drawing Marissa closer to his side of the bed. "Of course, your ex-wife is sleeping in the next room with a child that isn't biologically yours while we sleep in the next room, I'm perfectly fine with it, and it's completly normal."

"Thanks, I knew you'd understand," he said sarcastically. "Of course," Marissa joked, snuggling under the warmth of the covers and the manly arms that surrounded her. "I just can't believe this is..."

"Shh," she quieted him down, "we'll talk about this in the morning, not now, like Theresa said." Ryan sat back down and sighed. "Well its 4 in the morning, I'm a little hungry, you want anything." Marissa nodded "I _do _have a certain craving."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Not that kind," she teased, sitting up as well and kissing him. "This kind. The kind that won't get any further than it is right now, and the kind that should remind you that your ex-wife and daughter are in the next room." "Well now I know what morning sickness feels like" he joked, pushing her on one of the pillows. "It's a wonderful feeling," she giggled.

"Keep it down! Me and Mommy are trying to sleep!"

Marissa's eyes bulged as did Ryan's and they laid down quietly. "I wasn't aware I was paying for paper-thin walls." Marissa shh-ed him again and flipped herself on the other side of the bed, Ryan lying in the middle. He sighed "what a night."

Marissa had one last stab at it. "It was a completly normal night."

**A/N- **Moved too fast and left thing unresolved, but its the way its supposed to be in order for it to be the way I want to. If it didn't make sense, it's like 1 in the morning and I'm living off of 4 hours of sleep so I hope its not too bad. I"ll try to keep updating all my other stories as well.


	18. Taking Our Time

**Taking Our Time**

**Disclaimer-** I own shit.

**A/N-** Um...wow, tis has been a while, and it's my fault, of course, but...even nagging doesn't help, sorry if you did think it would. Trying to finish up some old stories and start new ones as well, I guess. But we'll see, since I'm so "busy" and all. But...enjoy the fluff.

Marissa slowly slipped into the kitchen, finding Theresa sipping a cup of coffee at the breakfast counter. "Morning," she greeted quietly, sitting down next to her with a glass of orange juice. "No coffee?" Theresa raised her eyebrows. Marissa shook her head and placed her hand over her tiny, but growing stomach. "Not for another 8 months," she smiled. Theresa nodded knowingly and whispered 'congrats'. "It'll be hard and everything. But Ryan's..." she looked down at her coffee, "Ryan's great at that stuff."

Recieving a nod from Marissa, she continued to sip her coffee as a silence encased the small room.

Marissa circled her fingers around the mug than finally caught Theresa's stare. "You should really be thinking of everyone, not just for yourself when you decide on this move." "Nothing to decide on," she snapped, "it's final."

"You have to think of Maddy while doing this. You have to think of Ryan while doing this. Of Eddie. Of Allison." Theresa whipped her head from its original position. "Ryan and Eddie are just gonna have to get over it. And Maddy's young. She can make new friends easily." "You're taking away from the two men that love her the most!" Marissa piped up, standing up, towering over her. Theresa followerd suit, setting down the coffee mug. "I think I know what's best for me and my daughter. And a change will do us all some good." "Theresa. Moving thousand miles away won't do _any _of us _any _good. You have to realize that now. That whatever choice you make, it'll affect you and..."

"...you." Theresa interupted. Marissa looked away and than back. "Yeah. It _will _affect me. And Ryan. And Eddie along with Allison, and...these two new babies we have to take care of soon." "I know, but it's a sacrifice we're all gonna have to deal with."

"But we shouldn't _have _to." Marissa grabbed her elbow and continued. "That little girl in there" she pointed to Maddy's room "will need both her fathers as she grows up. So please, for her sake, for Ryan's sake" she stopped "for _my _sake, don't make this move. Not right away."

"You don't know what it's like. Living with the humility of having your husband cheat on you." Tears sprung to her eyes and she wiped them away quickly, sitting on the stool. "I lived in Orange County long enough to know" Marissa cut in "trust me, I know. But it's something you move on with. And if you run away, both those men are going to chase you. Like they always have." She finished slowly. "I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing it because everyone needs a fresh start. All of us."

"There's plenty of other ways we can do that. Ones that don't come to mind at the moment, but their there. You know that and so do I."

Thersa gulped and shook her head. "It's just...something I have to do."

Marissa sighed and walked away to wake up Ryan, hoping he'd have better luck getting through to her.

"Maybe we should call Eddie...he needs to be here too." Ryan suggested, looking straight at Theresa, a hopeful glance at Marissa along the way. "Maybe you two should talk about it first. And I'll call Eddie. And maybe, we can all go out for brunch or something and talk about it?" Marissa offered, getting up and starting to walk away, backwards, a small, hopeful smile shining on her lips. Ryan shot a her a nod along with a smile and squeezed her hand affectionately as she walked to the phone and left Ryan and Theresa awkwardly alone.

>>

"So you want me to see her every other weekend! I got a baby coming Theresa, I can't afford that kinda shit!" Eddie yelled. "Hey, hey," Ryan warned, pointing to all the people in the restaurant.

Marissa looked up from her food to be met with Allison's eyes. She showed sorrow, envy and regret as she looked at Theresa. Marissa gave a nod to show that she understood and went back to her mashed potatoes as Allison did the same.

"Eddie, my decision still stands. It's just best for us all." She looked at Allison, who was to Eddie's right and than Marissa, who was to Ryan's left. She watched both pregnant women play with their dishes and than looked at both men.

"I'm really sorry you guys, all of you," she made eye contact with all the adults, "but...I've got to move on and this is the best way."

"Theresa," Ryan interupted, "this isn't the best way. You know it, I know it, and Maddy knows it. And like Eddie said, we can't just pick up our lives and move...we have kids on the way."

Theresa started to get up from her chair, picking her purse up along the way. "Nothing you can say can change my mind, and I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I have to do what I think is best for me and Maddy."

"What if we-" Eddie pointed to himself and Ryan while looking at Theresa, "get a laywer--" Than suddenly realizing Ryan was a laywer, Eddie grinned, "there's something we can do? Custody! Make her stay in Cali...? Something?" He asked hopefully, before Theresa cut him off. "I've already talked it over with my lawyer, nothing, you can do," she spat out, opening her purse and throwing a 20 dollar bill on the table, than leaving to go pick Maddy up from the sitter.

Ryan sighed, looking back at Marissa, who only had her face stuffed and gave him a sad smile. Gulping her food down quickly, she took his hand in hers and pressed her forehead against his, breathing softly on his nose "We'll work it out somehow."

>>

Marissa's legs swayed lazily off the bed and played nervously with her hospital gown, glancing nervously at the clock. The doctor had promised to be back in the room in just a 'few minutes'. It had already been 10. Ryan wasn't with her and all she could think of was the worst.

She heard footsteps nearing the door and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was the doctor. Instead; came through a sweaty, flustered, tie hanging off his loose collar and no jacket on, Ryan. "Hey," he smiled, going in for her lips, kissing her longer than she expected him to. He pulled back, resting his hands on her bent knees, "Traffic was..." he started, "well..." he smirked, "traffic." Marissa smiled and hugged him, "I'm just glad you're here, where's Maddy? I thought you had her this week."

Ryan pointed towards the direction of the waiting room and smiled, "she's getting chatty with the nurses." Marissa nodded, continuing to play with her gown when she noticed Ryan sniffing himself. Getting an eyebrow raise from her, Ryan smiled sheeplisly. "I smell?" He questioned. She laughed, raking him in her embrace her again, "a little," she giggled.

"Yeah, the air conditioning in the car broke, I guess I have to take it in again. That damn car is costing as..."

Marissa blushed and looked him squarely in the eye, tracing her fingers up and down his tie; interrupting him, "Hey. What do you say about..."

Ryan urged her to go on with one of his famous looks. "You know," she brushed his bangs out of his face, "a car for _us_." "Us?" With a nod, Marissa continued, "I mean, you can't fit a car seat in what you have now, along with Maddy _and _me." Ryan looked skeptical, "why not?"

Rolling her eyes, she looked away, "never mind."

This was not the reaction she had been ready to face, but knew not to push it any further.

Inside Ryan's mind, he knew he pissed her off, especially when she looked so hopeful, but he wasn't sure they could afford with what he was trying to plan. "Hey," he took her chin in his sweaty hands and kissed her lightly. "We will. Soon. Okay?" "Sure, whatever," was her response, lifting her sticky knees from the waxy material underneath her, letting Ryan slide right in between them. "You nervous?" he asked. "A little," Marissa admitted, "the doctor's been gone for 10 minutes. Or 14." She watched the clock positioned above the door. "15 now."

Ryan laughed. "Don't be worried, I'm sure it's nothing." "How can you say that? I--"

Suddenly, the door opened, a woman with her attention glued to her clipboard. "Marissa, nice to see you again," she faked a quick smile. Ryan eased himself out of Marissa's embrace and stood by her side, nervously. "I assume you're the father?" She spoke, her back turned towards them, working with some gadget in her hands. "Uh...yeah, Ryan." He gave a wave to her back and Marissa giggled.

"Great," the doctor enthused sarcastically, "I'm Marissa's doctor. Dr. Thomas," she faced her back to them again, pulling the ultra sound machine near Marissa.

In the meantime, Ryan mouthed 'that's your doctor?' Marissa shrugged and stayed tight lipped as the doctor started to take certain plugs and get the gel while Ryan clasped her fragile hand tightly, grinning nervously.

>>

"It's ugly. And it's black. Why do you have a black baby?"

Marissa sighed and set down the sonogram she had in her hands on the coffee table, removing her feet in the meantime. "That's just how the picture turns out, the baby doesn't actually look like that sweetie."

"And why is it so small? Is it stupid?"

"Here we are," Ryan bounced in the room, trying not to trip over himself as he handed Marissa a cold ice tea and Maddy a glass of orange juice. "I want a Diet Pepsi," she shoved the orange juice back. The father raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"I like Diet Pepsi now, not orange juice 'n' more." "It's not good for you," Ryan retorted, placing the glass in her hands. "Dadddddy!" She whined, sitting on the floor, looking up at him.

Marissa watched the exchange between father and daughter amusingly, taking a sip of her iced tea every few words. "What a diva," Ryan sighed, as Maddy ran into her room.

"You mean noopsie," she giggled. Ryan made a playful shocked face, "My daughter is not a noopsie."

"Soon enough," Marissa grinned playfully, setting her drink down and placing her feet in his lap as they heard Maddy's over dramatic cries coming from her room.

>>

"So...this is costing a little more than I expected," Ryan sighed nervously, running his fingers though his sandy streaks. The brunette smiled, handing his jacket back to him. "When you're ready, let me know." Ryan smiled unsurely and headed out to his car.

>>

Ryan rolled over in bed, looking quickly at the clock, making sure he hadn't overslept. Glad to find out it was 3 in the morning, he felt naked skin stuck to his back and peeled Marissa off himself, looking down at her fast asleep angelic face. "Ryan, stop staring at me. And get some sleep, we have to go to Kirsten and Sandy's." She said with a sleepy smile.

A soft laugh let out of Ryan as he looked on nervously. "You know about that car issue..."

Marissa stood up on her elbows and stared, bewildered that he would bring it up in the middle of the night. "What about it?" "I was thinking that maybe you were right..." A cheesy smile smothered his lips, "it'd be a good idea. I mean, we're starting a family and a little at a time would do us some good." He looked down at her again, to find her smiling and wrapped his arms around her torso, kissing her. Kissing down her bare chest, Marissa felt his lips turn up as he neared her little bulge where their baby would soon be born. "Any names?" he questioned, kissing up her body once again, running his index finger over her belly button, finally settling back into the mountains of pillows. "Not yet," she inhaled, "we've got a while." She breathed out in quick little puffs, tracing unidentified shapes over the blankets with her lazy hand. "I don't wanna focus on names right now, not until last minute." She smirked and looked up slightly. "We've got time, for everything. Names, baby shopping--"

Ryan snorted, but Marissa continued. "Maddy?" She continued, now leaving his warm arms and getting up to put a robe on. "What about it? And where are you going?" he questioned, pulling the covers over himself even more. "I'm hungry, hang on for a few," she left their bedroom quickly and returned back with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. "Expecting Santa Claus?" Ryan teased as Marissa got into bed, pulling over a sweater over herself.

"Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" The blonde haired beauty sank her teeth into the cookie, a look of satisfaction overcoming her as she gulped it down. "Well?" she urged, shoving him slightly with her feet, "I mean, I know Eddie's not the smartest guy in the world, but he's got a good heart. And I know he loves Maddy as much as you do."

He sighed, "I know, I know. But..."

"There's got to be something you can do. Pull a few strings. Have anyone you can blackmail?" She looked serious. Ryan managed to keep his laughter in and raised his hand to her cheek, slowly brushing away some cookie crumbs. "I'm not Sandy, Mariss'. I haven't been in the business long enough to know what I'm doing besides a few divorce settlements here and there."

Marissa looked thoughtful and looked directly. "We're meeting Sandy and Kirsten tomorrow. Talk to them about it, see what they can do to help." Ryan's lips turned into a straight line and nodded. "Not such a bad idea, all right, I will." Marissa smiled proudly. "We're going to be bathing in cookie crumbs for days," she teased, getting up and putting a pair of shorts on. "No, no, no" Ryan whined, "you're putting clothes on. Why?"

Marissa rolled her eyes, "I'm cold," she smiled, shivering and running her hands over her arms. "Need me to help you keep you warm?" He smiled, pushing her down on the bed and spooning up against her. "Much better."

A few moments of silence followed before Marissa popped her eyes opened. "Ryan?" she whispered. "Mmhmm?"

"I just want to let you know-- that...I love you and I know how important Maddy is to you." Ryan's eyes opened completly. "And if she does go to Atlanta, than I'd be willing to come." Ryan smiled in her hair, kissing the nape of her neck. "You won't have to." He dug his head back into her tangled mess of hair. "Good, cuz for once..." She took his hand and placed it over her stomach, following suit with her hand, "I'm actually liking California."

"Me too," he added after a few beats, rubbing her stomach silently, falling asleep right away while Marissa stared at the wall in front of her, trying to guess what the future would hold.

**A/N-** Don't know when you can expect the next update :) 3 years maybe...but I seem to be on a semi-roll, so we'll see. It's boring, it's all fluff but we can't win 'em all, eh? ;)

Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
